Profiling English in China DG PDF

David Graddol
Profiling English in China

The Pearl River Delta


by
David Graddol
Cambridge English Language Assessment

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David Graddol, 2013
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English Language Assessment.
First published 2013

Reprinted 2013 (with minor corrections)
Printed and bound in the United Kingdom by Canon UK Limited.
ISBN 978-1-908791-07-8 Profiling English in China
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work is correct at the time of first printing but Cambridge English Language
Assessment does not guarantee the accuracy of such information thereafter.
Profiling English in China is the first volume in what is intended

as a series of publications on profiling English in context.
foreword
Resulting from a collaboration between David Graddol and

members of the Research and Validation team in Cambridge
English Language Assessment, this book is designed to
complement ongoing research within the English Profile
Programme (see www.englishprofile.org).
The Profiling English series building on the research Graddol
has previously conducted on behalf of the British Council and
which led to the publications English Next (2006) and English
Next India (2010) intends to be complementary, yet strike in
a new direction: to focus on the social, economic and cultural
factors which provide the context for English language use
when in contact with other languages.
The need for this new direction comes from a need to
understand local circumstance better when operating
internationally on a global scale. In a period of rapid change,
this is pressing: Cambridge English in particular has a special
interest in monitoring how English language standards in a
local context can be set and measured by international tests
and examinations.
To this end, the Profiling English series uses an in context
research methodology focusing on a defined geographical
region in a limited timescale (12 to 18 months). The strength
of this approach is that we can take a snapshot of the features
which are influencing the linguistic landscape and creating the
need for English language skills in society.
This approach provides key directional information and
perceptive insights gained from many different areas.
Research can, for example, focus on the multinational work
environment; on people aiming to facilitate international
research and academic collaboration; or on those using English
as a lingua franca in other ways, such as seeking to foster social
cohesion amongst migrant communities and an international
workforce.
From a study of such on-the-ground contextual features

we can better understand the powerful influences exerted
on the attitudes and motivations of those learning English,
appreciate the ways in which the language is taught and
assessed within educational frameworks, and produce an
assessment system able to adapt to meet the local and global
scenarios ahead.
For providers of international educational services, thisis
essential: to match their provision to local needs and contexts,
seeking to achieve local legitimacy and avoiding inappropriate
transposition of practices from one context to another.
This is of particular importance for Cambridge English as
a provider of educational services, including high-stakes
language assessments usedfor international purposes. Given
the impact that examinations of this kind are known to have
both on societal processes and on individuals Cambridge
has a special concern in ensuring that stakeholders benefit in
positive ways and that negative effects are avoided.
This is a major challenge given the global pace of change and
the increasing demand for customisation to meet specific
requirements. In many parts of the worldsocial and economic
developments are both rapid and dynamic and, as traditional
boundaries and ways of doing things fade, new ones emerge,
offering global rather than national outreach, yet coming into
contact with often established international practices.
Nowhere is this more apparent than in China; especially in
those territories around the Pearl River Delta and along the
borders with the former European colonies, Hong Kong and
Macau.
It is appropriate therefore that this first volume provides a
snapshot of the Pearl River region in 2011/12, examining
in detail the linguistic implications of the rapid urbanisation
which has accompanied the phenomenal economic
developments in that region.
Graddol employs a methodology which relies on personal
contact with the people and the places and builds up
a comprehensive picture of the context. Asin similar
sociological and ethnographic approaches, he draws on
documents, reports, photographs and images as well as firsthand interviews with informants.
6
profiling english in china: the pearl river delta
His research, conducted while living in Hong Kong in 2011/12,

identifies the need for practical tools to spot trends and to
understand future needs for languageskills at different levels
of proficiency.
An internationally recognised learning ladder, which can be
linked to functional requirements for English language skills
in social contexts, is currently lacking in the Chinese context
and the potential benefits of using a common framework of
reference (such as the CEFR) are discussed.
The matching of language learning goals to international
proficiency standards, together with the provision of
relevant assessment tools to measure progress and provide
useful qualifications, are central concerns for educational
policy makers and for employers in the world of work who
recognize the need for a plurilingual workforce in conducting
their business.
But the challenge is not insubstantial.
The recently completed European Survey on Language
Competences (ESLC) conducted by the SurveyLang group
on behalf of the European Commission revealed the
challenge that language learning provides even in wealthy
European countries where policy-makers have advocated an
environment where speakers of all languages feel welcome
and language learning is encouraged.
In reflecting on the disappointing results of the first survey,
the Executive Summary (2012, page 12) makes the following
point in its conclusions:
Language policies should address the creation of languagefriendly living and learning environments inside as well as outside
schools and other educational institutions. Language policies
should promote informal learning opportunities outside school,
and consider the exposure to language through traditional and
new media, including the effects of using dubbing or subtitles in
television and cinemas. Overall, language policy should support
that people in general, and young people in particular, feel
capable of language learning and see it as useful.
So, unless the social environment creates a language friendly
context where the language being learned is widely valued for
real world purposes, it is unlikely that school-based learning
will bring about high levels of success for the majority of

learners as shown by the results of the survey.
It is crucial, therefore, to understand the contextual dynamics
and to set realistic policy goals in order to raise standards over
time in local environments which truly value the benefits of
multilingualism.
Creating a joined-up approach to curriculum goals, provision
of pedagogic materials, the application of a coherent
assessment system, and the on-going development of
teachers should be at the heart of the policy. It must also be
grounded in a clear vision of the wider geopolitical context
and possibility of progress being made in the medium and
longer term.
As China is vast, economically and culturally varied, followup work is planned to explore similarities and differences in
other parts of the country. It is not expected that findings
can be made general acrossthe country as a whole, but the
insights which have emerged in this case will be re-examined
and explored in other contexts. In this way a fuller picture
will be built up alongside other relevant research findings (for
example, from Cambridges impact studies see Research
Notes 50; 2013).
It is also hoped that the methodology which this volume
exemplifies will be developed and applied to contexts in other
parts of the world, leading to further volumes in the series
Profiling English in context in years to come.
Nick Saville
Director of Research and Validation
June 2013
Foreword 5
Introduction 11
PART ONE English in the Pearl River Delta
14
Languages and communities of the

Pearl River Delta
17
English in education
29
Overseas study
47
English, jobs and the economy
53
The great economic and social transition
61
PART TWO English in the urban landscape
68
Language landscapes
70
An English landscapes scale
79
Student projects
85
Corridors and flows
91
Postscript and conclusions
contents
101
APPENDICES
References 105
News sources
107
Abbreviations 110
Acknowledgements 112
Note: Extracts and quotations used in this book are

unedited. In this way they provide a flavour of the varieties
of English found in the Pearl River Delta.
1
In this short book, Profiling English in China: the Pearl
River Delta, I explore the changing role and status of the
English language in an area of Guangdong province in
South China. This region includes the former European
colonies of Hong Kong and Macau at the mouth of the
Pearl River, and stretches up to the historic mainland city
of Guangzhou, formerly known in English as Canton,
about 100 km up-river.
Although much of the world has not heard of the
Pearl River Delta, and might not be able to locate it on
a map, the area touches the lives of nearly everyone.
Wherever plastic goods, toys, shoes, lighting or electronic
gadgets are sold, there is a high chance that these were
manufactured in one of the factory towns of the delta.
The label Made in China usually means Made in the
Pearl River Delta.
The Pearl River Delta can also claim to be where the
story of English in China began with the Canton Trade
via Macau in the 17th century. It is sometimes forgotten
that the expansion of English worldwide occurred at
the same moment in different parts of the globe: the
first English-speaking settlement in North America at
Jamestown, the arrival of the East India Company in
India at Surat, and the first English traders in China at
Canton all took place within the space of a few years
in the early 1600s. The story of English in China, then
and now, forms an important part of the wider story of
English and globalisation.
The history of English in the region has been
continuous over four centuries or more, and its
development into a trading lingua franca known as
pidgin (thought to have been derived from the Chinese
pronunciation of the English word business) has been
an influence on modern varieties of English everywhere.
During its long history, the number of people learning
English in China has waxed and waned, reaching a low
point during the Cultural Revolution at the end of the
1960s, but now experiencing what (for demographic
reasons) is likely to prove a peak.
introduction
11
A zone of political and economic experimentation

The Pearl River Delta has been at the forefront of
many political, economic and social reforms in China.
In the 1980s, Deng Xiaoping, the reformist leader of
the Communist Party in China who came after Mao
Zedong, established the city of Shenzhen as a Special
Economic Zone, on the border with Hong Kong. The
city which began as an experiment in capitalism with
socialist characteristics, remains a test-bed for social and
economic reform as it becomes more closely integrated
with Hong Kong and Macau.
The present president of China, Xi Jinping, even
before he took office in March 2013, made a visit to the
Pearl River Delta which echoed one famously made by
Deng Xiaoping in 1990. This was widely interpreted as
an indication that the Guangdong model of political and
economic reform will continue to enjoy influence [5215].
If so, understanding what is now happening in the Pearl
River Delta may give us an insight into developments
which will affect the rest of China in the coming decade.
A forward-looking work
This book is intended as an exploratory study in several
respects. First, it is concerned not only with providing
an overview of the current situation, but also with the
dynamic of change. It asks questions such as, What will
the extraordinary changes now taking place in the Pearl
River Delta mean for the future of English in the region?
Second, this book is forward-looking in the sense
that it suggests ideas and methods of enquiry which
can be extended in the future, in partnership with local
institutions and researchers in the Pearl River Delta itself,
across other regions of China, and in other emergent
economies.
The book should thus be seen as a preliminary study
identifying topics and modes of enquiry that merit
further investigation.
A sensitivity to levels
Research on English in economic and social development
too often regards the knowledge of the language as
something which is binary: people are typically regarded
as either knowing English or not. In reality, there is a wide
12
range of proficiency in English in the community, from the

Hong Kong street-market trader who knows just enough
words to ensure a sale to a tourist, to the PhD graduate
engaged in international, collaborative research for a hitech firm in Shenzhen.
In this book, I have tried to be sensitive to the notion
that needs, aspirations and achievements exist at different
levels of English competence; I argue, for example, that
we need to understand more about the relationship
between such levels and job functions before we can
answer pressing questions about the role of English in
economic development and social equity; and I try to
understand how a learners progress in learning English,
conceived as a learning ladder towards increasing
functional competence, maps on to social, employment
and educational needs.
I have also been open to different notions of levels
in English. Part two of the book explores language
landscapes and what they tell us about the underlying
social, economic, and political life of a community and
the complex roles that English plays. This emphasises the
idea that English is not a static matter of have or dont
have, and helps us understand the fluid, dynamic and
ever-shifting role which English plays in the communities
of the Pearl River Delta.
Sources
This book draws extensively on a research database of
news articles, letters, comments and blog posts. This
database, compiled intensively during the research
period from a variety of print and electronic sources,
contains around 2000 items, and reflects current opinion,
anecdote and formal statistics. Where text has been used
directly from the database, the source reference is given
as numbers in square brackets. Text from these sources
has not been copy-edited.
This book also incorporates research, experience,
and observation gained during my position as Visiting
Associate Professor in the Department of English at
City University in Hong Kong during 2010 and 2011.
Acknowledgements to some of the many people in the
Pearl River Delta who have helped me in this research
are provided at the end of the book.
13
Part one
English in the
Pearl River Delta
Heilongjiang
Jilin
Xinjiang
olia
ong
Liaoning
M
ner
In
on
Zhejiang
n
jia
Jian
Fu
Yunnan
Hunan
gxi
Ch
Guizhou
Shanghai
ing
Hubei
hu
gq
Jiangsu
An
Sichuan
ng
ndo
Sha
Henan
Sha
Gansu
Tibet
Heb
i
Sha
anx
Qinghai
nxi
Ningxia
ei
Beijing
Tianjin
Guangxi
n
gdo
an
Gu
Taiwan
Hainan
Figure 2 The Pearl River Delta is an area of Guangdong province which

stretches from Macau and Hong Kong at the entrance to the South
China Sea, to the city of Guangzhou about 120 km up-river.
Figure 1 (previous pages)

Hong Kong as seen from
The Peak on a rare clear
day in summer 2012.
16
2
The Pearl River Delta contains surprising linguistic
diversity. Guangdong province is the homeland of
the Cantonese language and Cantonese remains the
dominant local language, spoken throughout the region
in mainland China, Macau and Hong Kong by almost
everyone born there. Cantonese ranks as one of the
worlds biggest languages in terms of native-speaker
numbers, with an estimated 5560 million first-language
speakers in established communities in over 20 countries
making it a language roughly the size of Italian.
Cantonese is not the only indigenous language in
the delta area. On the east side runs a historic linguistic
boundary between Cantonese and Hakka more or less
dividing the new city of Shenzhen. There are also enclaves
of several other Chinese dialects in the region.
In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese is an official
language but its status is increasingly challenged by
Putonghua (often referred to locally in English as
Mandarin). English is an official language only in Hong
Kong, though its use is spreading across the rest of the
delta, as this book documents.
languages
and
communities
of the pearl
river delta
The language profile of each city is distinct

In some delta cities, linguistic diversity has been greatly
increased because of the large number of migrant workers,
most of whom do not speak Cantonese. In Shenzhen, for
example, Putonghua has become the working language in
both policy and practice, but Shenzhen has experienced
rapid shifts in linguistic make-up as the city grew rapidly
in the 1980s and 1990s.
Figure 3 Cantonese
Opera remains popular
in Hong Kong, often
performed in temporary
bamboo opera houses in
outlying areas at holiday
times (Lamma Island).
17
Other
10%
Hakka
25%
Figure 4 The
languages of Shenzhen
in 1985. (Zhang,
2005)
Putonghua
20%
Min
20%
Cantonese
25%
The Shenzhen area used to be occupied by Cantonesespeaking villages in the west and Hakka communities
in the east. In the 1980s, as the city grew, it became
multilingual when migrant workers flooded in from other
provinces. Now it is pulled towards both Putonghua and
Cantonese still the dominant language of neighbouring
Hong Kong.
Shenzhen, occupying the length of the border
between Hong Kong and mainland China, provides
us with a complex and fascinating research site for the
study of language change. But although there has been
substantial sociolinguistic research generally on language
use in urban areas, and of the fate of language minorities
created by migration, the linguistic consequences of new
city developments remain largely unexplored.
A study of Milton Keynes in the UK, a much smaller
city, but one established only slightly earlier than
Shenzhen, suggests a number of new town tendencies
(Williams & Kerswill, 1999):
(1) that dialect levelling occurs (i.e. linguistic
differences between new residents grow less);
(2) loose and diffuse social network structures of a
kind that typically occur in areas of in-migration
promote rapid language change;
(3) adolescents are key agents of language change.
In looking at new cities, we can note that although the
use of Putonghua is clearly growing in the whole delta
region, there is contradictory evidence concerning how
far and how fast such shifts are taking place. Some recent
reports suggest adolescents who are second-generation
migrants in Shenzhen are now acquiring Cantonese.
18
>
Li Zhen is a 16-year old high school student who was born in Wuhan and
moved to Shenzhen at the age of 10. She insists on talking to her friends in
Cantonese. My parents do not speak Cantonese and we speak Putonghua or
Wuhan dialect at home Li said. in school, we only speak Putonghua in class.
(But) all my friends are Cantonese speakers. Cantonese is the fashionable
language among Shenzhen teenagers. [3046]
The status of Cantonese in Guangzhou, the original

home of standard Cantonese, seems to have been
eroded in recent years in favour of Putonghua, but
there remains a powerful language loyalty. When the
government suggested that the Cantonese-medium
TV channels should broadcast in Putonghua ahead of
the Asian Games in 2010, it led to street protests in both
Guangzhou and Hong Kong.
>
Chinese authorities have been anxious to suppress the growing pro-Cantonese

movement, sparked after a political advisory body in Guangzhou proposed last
month that local TV stations broadcast their prime-time shows in Mandarin
instead of Cantonese ahead of the Asian Games in the province in November.
Adopting Chinas official language, also known as Putonghua, would promote
unity, forge a good language environment and cater to non-Cantonesespeaking Chinese visitors at the huge sporting event, authorities were quoted
as saying. [834]
Language shift
These changes in the Pearl River Delta need to be seen in
the context of the inter-generational language shift taking
place on an extraordinary scale across China. Chinese
dialects, such as Wu and Yue (which includes Cantonese),
which are amongst the worlds largest languages in terms
of numbers of speakers, are giving way to Putonghua. The
Chinese languages, though as different from each other as
the languages of Europe, are steadily being positioned as
local, non-standard, dialects.
This language shift in mainland China is largely
a product of national policy. Because Putonghua is
the medium of education in most of China, children
encounter the language even in pre-school, whatever their
family language. Many parents speak to their children in
Putonghua at home, to prepare them for school. Younger
children, whether in Shanghai or Guangzhou, do not
always now share a language with their grandparents.
19
Hong Kong as a focal centre of Cantonese

If Shenzhen is becoming more Cantonese again, then it
might mirror the kind of language shift which has been
taking place in Hong Kong in recent decades. Hong Kong,
during the 1990s and 2000s emerged as an increasingly
Cantonese-speaking area, despite historic waves of
immigration from the rest of China most notably after
the communist revolution of the mid-20th century.
English 4%
Other
Chinese 4%
Others 2%
Figure 5 Usual language

of the population of Hong
Kong according to the
2011 census.
Putonghua 1%
Cantonese
89%
Endangered languages of the delta

Rapid economic change and large-scale in-migration
has transformed the linguistic landscapes of the Pearl
River Delta, but in the process some minority languages,
spoken in small enclaves, are disappearing. One example
is the local Mecanese language in Macau.
>
20
In a dark basement theatre, Nair Cardoso runs through her lines before a
rehearsal of a play that will be watched by hundreds of people in just a couple
of weeks. However, her character Benina speaks a language she only half
understands. It is a problem shared by most of her fellow cast, not to mention
her future audience. The script is in Patu a creole that mixes Portuguese,
Cantonese and Malay that today is only spoken by a handful of Macaus
residents and has been listed by Unesco as critically endangered. Patu was
once spoken by many Macanese the Eurasians who acted as the Portuguese
colonys administrators and interpreters and who today are trying to hold onto
a distinct cultural identity in the predominantly Chinese city. [1438]
Western names in the Pearl River Delta

In Hong Kong, most children are given an English
(western) personal name in addition to their Chinese
name (legal name), a trend which has been spreading
across the Pearl River Delta in recent years.
In Hong Kong, a western name is often given by parents
at birth, perhaps inspired by the sound of the Chinese
name (for example, Ka Mun might become Carmen). But
the name may reflect parental aspirations for their child.
In Guangzhou, where the fashion for western names
is more recent, students are often given a name by
an English teacher (at any stage of education from
kindergarten), or they may choose a name themselves
on entering college. Names may sound odd to western
ears as a name such as Dictionary, Onion, Bottle, Banana,
Virus and Anxious (all reported by delta English teachers).
In both Hong Kong and Guangzhou, the use of the
western name at university may form a rite of passage
to adulthood, especially in interactions with westerners.
Or perhaps it provides a way of adopting the informality
expected in the English classroom without the intimacy
implied by the use of a Chinese personal name.
Chinese family names are usually a single syllable.
Personal names are typically two syllables (and so two
written characters), though there seems to be a trend
amongst the younger generation for names of a single
syllable. In Chinese, the family name is always given
before the personal name.
Chinese who have lived in the west or work for western
companies may refer to themselves as western name
+ family name leaving out the Chinese given name
altogether. The sons of Hong Kong business tycoon Li
Ka-shing, for example, are usually known by their English
name and family name: Victor Li and Richard Li.
The use of western names is not so common in other
parts of China, or in Singapore, though the practice
appears to be spreading. Academics who publish in
English often switch to the western order of first name
+ family name, to conform to western bibliographical
practice.
21
The written languages of the delta

The communist government introduced a system
of simplified characters in the 1950s as a means of
improving literacy levels in the population. Neither
Hong Kong or Taiwan (where the Nationalists fled after
the communist revolution) adopted the new system.
Singapore and Malaysia, by comparison, have over time
adopted simplified characters, but most other overseas
communities many with historic connections to Hong
Kong or Taiwan still follow Hong Kong practice.
The use of traditional characters today remains a
powerful symbol of identity in Hong Kong; it may, to
some readers, symbolise non-communist. When public
notices appear in Hong Kong using simplified characters,
it can cause resentment amongst the local population.
Yet, ironically, traditional writing also became a
symbol of modernity for some mainland Chinese, as Hong
Kong and Taiwan modernised faster than the mainland,
becoming richer and more westernised. But as Hong
Kongs neighbours in the delta grow in wealth, and their
cities expand, that attitude is changing.
Simplified and traditional Chinese characters are not the
only choices for written text: there is also a way of writing
Putonghua in the roman alphabet known as pinyin, the
spread of which has been encouraged by the government in
mainland China. Pinyin is less visible in Hong Kong, where
several alternative romanisations are used.
Pinyin serves an important function in modern
China: it offers a quick means of text input for texting
and word processing, for example. Pinyin indicates
tones with accents above letters which are essential in
Chinese to distinguish between what would otherwise be
homophones. Since these are clumsy to input on a basic
alphabetic keypad, text prediction on smartphones often
displays the alternative characters which an alphabetic
input could refer to.
Throughout China, a debate continues as to whether
English translations or pinyin should be used in public
signage, for example on street names and the names of
institutions, including universities. Should the street in
Guangzhou be called Beijing Lu or Beijing Road, or even
Peking Road? This is discussed more fully in Part two of
this book.
22
English in the Pearl River Delta

The learning of English in China has a long history and
probably began in association with the Canton trade.
Bolton (2003) suggests that the first fully documented
encounter between English speakers and Chinese in the
delta area occurred in 1637, when an expedition of four
English trading ships arrived in Macau and Canton, at
a time when there was already extensive trade between
Europe and China controlled by the Portuguese based
in Macau. The British expedition communicated with
the Chinese through Portuguese-speaking interpreters,
marking the start of a long, sometimes inglorious, history
of contact between Cantonese and English speakers.
The first record of Chinese attempts to pronounce
English come from the diaries of Peter Mundy, an early
17th century English trader (Bolton, 2003:145). By 1836 it
was reported that at Canton English is the only medium
of conversation between foreigners and Chinese (Bolton,
2003:151).
English has now emerged as a global lingua franca used
by speakers of many languages to communicate with each
other. Bolton (2006:203) claims that Spoken English also
serves an intraethnic communicative purpose between
some Hong Kong Cantonese speakers and Putonghua
speakers from mainland China.
My impression is that such lingua franca use is becoming
less common, perhaps as Mandarin becomes better known
in Hong Kong. Some years ago I was staying in a hotel in
Guangzhou little used by foreigners. Few staff in the hotel
knew English. One day, the chambermaid was keen to
tell me something. I knew no Cantonese, she no English.
She reached for the notepad and wrote the message in
Chinese. This was clearly the way she communicated with
visitors from elsewhere in China who spoke a different
dialect. But sadly it was of no help to me.
English is more likely to occur at points where
mainlanders have to communicate with local
tradespeople in Hong Kong or Macau who do not
speak, or do not wish to speak, Putonghua. English
also remains the main lingua franca amongst the many
expat workers in the delta and is the main language
with which the Chinese communicate with foreigners
throughout the delta, especially in service encounters in
hotels, restaurants and businesses.
23
50
Figure 6 The
growing percentage
of the Hong Kong
population who report
being able to speak
English, according to
census surveys.
45
40
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
31 961 996 971 991 996 001 006 011
1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2
19
Knowledge of English in Hong Kong has been rising ever

since records began in the early 20th century. However,
knowledge of Putonghua has also been rising. Slightly
more residents in Hong Kong can now speak Putonghua
than can speak English according to the 2011 census a
moment of some symbolic importance.
Varieties of English in the delta

In Hong Kong, British English remains the dominant
variety of English, especially in printed sources.
The house style of the South China Morning Post, The
Standard, and government publications all adopt British
spellings. US spellings and spoken usages are, however,
increasingly found in other contexts.
In mainland China, the reverse is true: the dominant
variety in written communication is that of the USA
rather than the UK. However, some British spellings can
occasionally be found, especially in Guangzhou.
There are also other varieties of English to be found
throughout the region, including local forms. There
is, however, dispute as to whether Hong Kong English
should be regarded as a distinct variety, like Singapore
English. On the whole, most linguists are happy to
recognise that Hong Kong English is a distinct variety,
whilst many local people are not.
24
Work units and the hukou system

Before the shift to a market economy, started by Deng
Xiaoping in the 1980s, when students left education they
were assigned jobs in a state-owned enterprise. This
formed a persons work unit or danwei.
The work unit provided all an employees needs, from
accommodation, education, and medical care to subsidised
meals. It also formed the lowest layer of the Communist
Partys hierarchy of political control. In fact, until 2003,
no-one could change employment, marry, divorce, or
conceive a child without the permission of their work unit.
With economic liberalisation in the 1990s, many
middle-class couples followed the path of one family,
two systems one person retained employment in the
public sector to ensure subsidised accommodation and
welfare, whilst their partner found a job with a private
enterprise, with less job security but higher income.
Urban migration became a key policy objective in the
1990s, encouraged by the explosion of new employment
opportunities for less-educated people in the new privatesector factories in the Pearl River Delta and elsewhere.
The hukou system allowed some measure of continuing
political oversight and control during a potentially chaotic
period. Hukou is the system of household registration
which allocates citizens rights of residence in a particular
city or area, and which provides access to services most
importantly to health care and government schools. A
key distinction lies between rural and urban hukou, which
provide access to different kinds of benefits. Most migrant
workers now live, work, and spend money in the cities but
still have rural hukou.
Migrant workers lack hukou in the places where they work,
so the factories which employ them typically provide
dormitories, canteens, and leisure facilities thus effectively
continuing to act as a traditional work unit, though less
directly under the control of the Communist Party.
Hukou regulations are discussed in later chapters,
because they play such an important role in access to
education, municipal services, and visas for travel to
Hong Kong and Macau.
25
Migrant workers
H
uk
ou
Dongguan
uk
ou
igr
an
t
Hu
ko
Mi
gra
nt
Shenzhen
Guangzhou
igr
an
t
Who is a typical migrant worker?

Migrants are fairly evenly divided between men and
women. Most are young, below the age of 25, and
unmarried. Workers over the age of 40 say they have
difficulty in finding jobs. Many move to the delta for
complex reasons, and experience there not only their
first employment, but also an important transition to
independence, adulthood, and an urban lifestyle.
There are relatively few children in the factory towns
of the delta: migrants often have to leave children behind
to be brought up by other family members because
children have the right of free public schooling only in
places where their mothers have hukou, or permanent
residence registration (see panel).
igr
an
t
One of the biggest stories in the Pearl River Delta today

is that of the migrant workers, millions of whom have
flooded into the delta over the past decades from many
parts of China. They have come especially from the
poorer rural areas of the hinterland, expanding the
population of the cities with unimaginable speed. In
some townships of the delta, almost the entire population
now consists of migrants.
Migrant factory workers typically have low levels
of education, many having left school at age 14, and the
majority do not speak Cantonese. However, many live in
dormitory accommodation provided by the factories and
do not mix extensively with the local population.
The future of the delta region and its languages is tied
to the future of these migrants. Will they all return home
as better employment opportunities appear elsewhere in
China? Will they be encouraged to establish homes in the
delta, and raise families there? Will local governments
allow them permanent residence status, or even abolish
the hukou system, so they have equal access to services
such as education and health care?
uk
ou
Zhuhai
Figure 7 Migrants in four

cities of the Pearl River
Delta. Dongguan has
the largest proportion of
migrants.
The decline of the work unit forms a key part of Chinas modern development.
Pressure has been growing recently to reform the hukou system, and the new
competition for migrant workers has already led some cities, including Guangzhou and
Shenzhen, to allow migrant workers better access to local services.
26
Foreign migrant workers

Not all migrant workers in the Pearl River Delta are
Chinese. According to news sources, in Dongguan over
400 skilled workers are from Japan; half of all Brazilians
living in China around 2,000 work in Dongguans
footwear industry, and the west African community
in Guangzhou is claimed to number over 20,000. One
Nigerian source claims that 80 per cent of Nigerians
living in China are in Guangzhou [5735]. Many
such traders can be found in the district surrounding
Guangzhou East railway station.
The situation in Hong Kong and Macau is rather
different. In Hong Kong alone, there are over 300,000
domestic workers, mostly from the Philippines and
Indonesia, and the Hong Kong government has recently
made arrangements for a new source of maids from
Bangladesh [5607].
There are also indications that as factories in the
delta find it more difficult, and expensive, to recruit
migrant workers from elsewhere in China, they are being
sometimes replaced by workers (often undocumented)
from Myanmar and Vietnam [6410].
The role of ethnic minorities

Because the population of the Pearl River Delta is
overwhelmingly Chinese (even in Hong Kong the
population was found to be 94% Chinese in the 2011
census), the important linguistic role of other ethnic
groups is easily overlooked. Some ethnic minorities,
however, provide key language resources, especially
English, throughout the delta region.
Filipina maids, for example, account for the great
majority of Philippines residents in Hong Kong, who
account for 1.8% of the population. Visa restrictions
mean that they, like all domestic helpers, are required
to live with the families who employ them. Unlike the
Indonesian maids, who form the other major group of
domestic helpers in Hong Kong, most Filipinas speak
good English but often have poor Cantonese. They are
sought after by middle-class families who want their
young children to be exposed to English in the home.
English proficiency is distributed in a complex
manner amongst other ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.
Detaramani and Lock (2008), for example, found that
27
different groups in the Indian community in Hong

Kong possessed different language repertoires and
patterns of language shift. The Indian community in
Hong Kong is well-established many families came to
Hong Kong before the partition of India (in 1947). The
younger generation in Sikh families, many of whose
parents worked in the police force and more recently
as security guards, attend local Cantonese-medium
schools and seem to have maintained their heritage
language, along with English. In the more middleclass, business-oriented Sindhi community, however,
many children attend English-medium, private schools.
There appears to have been loss of heritage languages
amongst this group, for whom English is now often
their first language.
A significant proportion of professionals with high
proficiency in English are foreign workers, often on
short-term working visas. Hong Kong and Macau have
long depended on the English language skills of such
short-term workers: as the economy develops elsewhere
in the Pearl River Delta, competition for English-speaking
professionals may increase.
Language worlds and language biographies

Little research has been conducted on patterns of
language use amongst young people in mainland China.
What glimpses we have suggest a more complex and
nuanced situation than might be thought.
For example, Bolton (2012) has explored the notion
of language worlds with students in the English
department at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou.
His interviews indicate that many students encounter
several languages in their everyday lives and often have
complex language histories in their families.
My own research, interviewing students at the
same university, suggested that undergraduate and
postgraduate students in the English department had
acquired English in more diverse ways than I had
appreciated. School lessons sometimes played a relatively
minor role. On the other hand, family members could
play a key part in learning, as could private tutorials, visits
overseas. Above all, personal motivation and aspiration
seemed a common factor amongst those students who
managed to rise above the levels of English typically
found amongst school-leavers in China.
28
3
Education in China is a highly competitive business
and English now forms a significant part of almost every
high-stakes exam. The Pearl River Delta, however, seems
to be distinctive in both its education provision and its
needs for English.
For example, the business of the region can require
a greater number of workers able to communicate in
English, probably more than any other area of China,
but at the same time the Pearl River Delta has one of the
highest populations of migrant workers. Ironically, these
workers are employed on assembly lines in factories
where they are forbidden to talk to each other.
The Pearl River Delta is also distinctive for its
distortion of conventional age profiles. In cities such as
Dongguan for example, migrants represent as much as
80% of the current population. This not only makes the
area peculiarly lacking the normal urban age spread of
the very young and very old, it also affects the available
pathways through the education system, since migrant
parents without hukou permanent residence usually
cannot gain access to local public schools for their
children. Many children of migrant workers are therefore
schooled away from their parents, outside the region.
A further distinctive feature of the Pearl River Delta
is the presence of Hong Kong and Macau. These two
cities, where English plays an important role in both
education and business, have affected social attitudes
to English in the region and the perceived importance
of English in employability. They have also affected the
regional capacity for the teaching, learning and testing
of English.
english in
education
The importance of English in public exams

Despite many attempts over the years to remove the key
schools system, in which some schools are designated as
elite and able to attract more resources, schools have long
been banded in both mainland China and Hong Kong.
Entry to elite institutions depends on attaining a high
score in first the zhongkao (which decides which senior
29
English testing in Chinese education
Kindergarten interview
Primary
Junior
Middle
Senior
Middle
Undergraduate
PG
22
23
PHASE
KG
AGE
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
Zhongkao
Gaokao
CET 4/TEM 4
CET 6
TEM 8
CET Band 8
secondary school a child attends) and then the gaokao

(the national university entrance exam). English is a core
subject in both exams.
Testing in English continues after school: all university
students must sit the College English Test (CET) Band 4,
unless they are English majors, in which case they take
the Test for English Majors (TEM). Postgraduates are
required to take CET Band 8. Entry to some professions,
the civil service and career promotions, often require
further tests of English.
30
Figure 8 This table

indicates the structure
of the education system
throughout China,
though details vary in
some cities. In Hong
Kong, the structure is
now similar, but instead
of gaokao, students
take the Hong Kong
Diploma of Secondary
Education, which is used
to determine entry to
university.
Education reform in Hong Kong

The education system in Hong Kong previously
followed the English system: students sat A levels
before entering university aged 18/19, when they began
a three-year undergraduate degree. Recently, a major
reform has taken place, creating a new single exam in the
public education system the Hong Kong Diploma of
Secondary Education (HKDSE), and moving students to
university at age 17/18 to take a four-year undergraduate
course. The new arrangements mean that Hong Kong
is now more similar to the systems of mainland China,
North America and Europe.
The first cohorts of the new system entered Hong
Kong universities in autumn 2012. A substantial funding
programme has allowed Hong Kong universities to
recruit new teaching staff and build new accommodation
for the overnight one-third increase in student numbers.
One of the consequences of educational reform in Hong Kong is that the

universities, by taking students a year earlier, have also taken on greater responsibility
for ensuring that students reach the level of English required for English-medium
study.
Learning English in schools

A child in Hong Kong, Macau (and increasingly also in
mainland China) typically begins learning English before
school age, either in the home or at a kindergarten. Many
middle-class Hong Kong families, for example, employ
a Filipina maid who introduces children to English at
a very early age. Kindergartens and nurseries are also
expanding fast in both Hong Kong and mainland China.
Kindergartens are keen to position themselves as a
crucial pathway to entry in a good primary school, and
many advertise heavily that they are English-medium.
In Hong Kong, testing for English often starts at age two, because many
kindergartens require an interview. Since kindergartens are often seen as the pathway
to entry to good primary schools, and thus to secondary school and university, such
interviews are regarded by parents as a high-stakes test. Some tutorial centres in Hong
Kong provide courses to prepare both children and parents for such tests. The idea that
college starts at kindergarten is now growing elsewhere in the delta.
31
Although decisions are officially taken at a provincial

level, the national policy in mainland China prevails:
Putonghua is the medium of education in almost all
schools. Most children in the Pearl River Delta are thus
expected to learn Putonghua as soon as they begin
compulsory education:
in the province of Guangdong, where Cantonese is the
dominant local dialect, putonghua is generally used in more
than 83 per cent of primary schools in the capital city of the
province, Guangzhou. ... In rural areas of Guangdong ... it
is reported that putonghua is used in only 50 per cent of
primary schools. (Chen, 2007:157)
A decision was taken by the Beijing government in 2001

to introduce English classes nationally by at least Grade
3 (9 years old). However, in the larger cities English is
usually now introduced at Grade 1.
Figure 9 Ten-year old
students learn English in
a school in Guangzhou.
Children starting compulsory education in the delta

are thus faced with major linguistic challenges, being
expected to acquire Putonghua, learn Chinese writing,
and begin English using the roman alphabet, all at the
same time. Many children of migrant workers will also
be unfamiliar with Cantonese, which they will encounter
from other children and school staff.
32
Language education policy in Hong Kong

Before 1998, 93% of students in Hong Kong primary
schools studied through the medium of Cantonese, and
7% through English. In secondary schools, the inverse
was true: 94% studied through English, and 6% through
Cantonese. This policy changed in 1998.
Official documents in China, including Hong Kong and Macau, usually
refer to Chinese, without distinguishing between Mandarin and Cantonese.
This makes it difficult to know if the balance between the two languages is
changing.
There had long been disquiet about the quality of learning
in schools which claimed to be English-medium but in
which the prevailing classroom language was in reality
a mixed code (i.e. a mix of Cantonese and English).
A report issued by the colonial government as early as
1990 (ECR Report 4) had recommended that only those
secondary schools which could demonstrate they had the
competence to teach through English should be allowed
to do so. This recommendation was put into effect by the
post-handover Hong Kong Government in 1998, when the
majority of schools (307/421) became Cantonese-medium.
Although primary education in Hong Kong has always been mainly Cantonesemedium, the increasing number of students crossing the border each day from
mainland China to attend Hong Kong primary schools is affecting the medium of
instruction in schools in the New Territories.
The Education Bureau (EDB) has implemented a finetuning policy regarding the medium of instruction in
Hong Kong secondary schools, which allows schools to
teach particular classes or age groups through English. The
EDB at the same time reaffirmed that The Governments
overall language policy aims at nurturing students to
become bi-literate and tri-lingual (EDB, 2010).
Since the fine-tuning policy was introduced, all three languages can be used in the
same school for different subjects, ages or streams. This makes it difficult not only
to determine what exactly is the medium of instruction (MoI), but also to monitor any
change in the use of MoI, or assess the relative use of English against other languages.
33
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)

The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) was established by the
Council of Europe to define levels of language proficiency in a way which could be
used across the many languages now learned in Europe. Since the first developments
in the 1970s, the CEFR has matured to become important tool in international
policy and language testing.
The CEFR levels represent functional communicative abilities rather than knowledge
of particular linguistic structures or vocabulary. A learner progresses to A1 level, at
which simple, formulaic communication can be carried out, upwards to C2 level, which
is approaching the proficiency of a native speaker in terms of adaptability and range.
C1
Can understand a wide range of demanding, longer texts, and

recognise implicit meaning. Can express him/herself fluently and
spontaneously without much obvious searching for expressions.
Can use language flexibly and effectively for social, academic and
professional purposes.
B2
Can understand the main ideas of complex text on both concrete

and abstract topics, including technical discussions in his/her field of
specialisation. Can interact with a degree of fluency and spontaneity
that makes regular interaction with native speakers quite possible
without strain for either party.
B1
Can understand the main points of clear standard input on familiar

matters regularly encountered in work, school, leisure, etc. Can
produce simple connected text on topics which are familiar or of
personal interest. Can briefly give reasons and explanations for
opinions and plans.
A2
Can understand sentences and frequently used expressions related

to areas of immediate relevance (e.g. very basic personal and
family information, shopping, local geography, employment). Can
communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and
direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
A1
Can understand and use familiar everyday expressions and very

basic phrases aimed at the satisfaction of needs of a concrete type.
Can interact in a simple way provided the other person talks slowly
and clearly and is prepared to help.
Basic
User
Independent
User
Proficient
User
C2
Can understand with ease virtually everything heard or read. Can

summarise information from different spoken and written sources,
reconstructing arguments and accounts in a coherent presentation.
Can express him/herself spontaneously, very fluently and precisely,
differentiating finer shades of meaning even in more complex
situations.
34
The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)

A ladder of English progression
In many countries, education policy defines the level of English proficiency which
learners are expected to reach at different stages of their education. For example,
Colombia now expects students to leave school with at least CEFR B1 in English.
In other countries, there may be a de facto standard associated with national exams.
Perhaps the most critical stage is entrance to university. Students wanting to study
an English-medium course at university are usually expected to reach C1 level.
Only very recently have independent, large-scale surveys of English proficiency
been undertaken which provide an accurate picture of the real situation. A study of
14- to 15-year old learners of English in European countries, for example, discovered
significant differences in the level of English of Grade 9 students (Figure 10). The
survey showed that the majority of Swedish Grade 9 students were able to use
English at CEFR B2 at least, whereas over 70% of French students, after the same
number of years of compulsory education, reached only CEFR A1 or below.
This establishes a useful background for understanding English language
learning in the Pearl River Delta. According to a study in Hong Kong (see Chapter
5) all graduates seeking professional employment should exit university with at
least C1 level English. But students should enter university at C1 level if they intend
to study an English-medium course without extra intensive language support. On
the other hand, as we will also see in Chapter 5, many kinds of work in the region
even shop assistants and hotel staff now require some level of English skills, but
CEFR A2 would be sufficient for many.
60
France
Sweden
50
Figure 10 A survey of English

proficiency amongst Grade 9
students in European countries
found wide differences between
national systems. (European
Commission, 2012)
per cent grade 9 students
40
30
20
10
Pre--A1
A1
A2
B1
B2
35
English in the universities

English is important for all students in universities in
China, not just because they are expected to pass the
College English Test before graduation, but also because
of the internationalisation of Chinese universities.
>
Qinghua [Tsinghua] University has now 57 courses being taught in English, in

an effort to make itself more competitive internationally. ... English is now the
language medium of more than 60 percent of the courses in the department
of biology and school of economics and administration at the university. [3207]
The increasing use of English as a medium of instruction

adopted by Tsinghua in Beijing one of the most
prestigious universities in China is now to be found in
many other elite universities.
This is consistent with another, perhaps less expected,
trend. Until recently, the best English-speaking students
were always found in the foreign languages departments
of universities. Such students, trained as interpreters
and translators, usually ended up working in the foreign
affairs offices of state-owned enterprises, including
universities. However, as the standard of English in
schools has improved, the situation in universities may
also be changing. Professor Dai Fan, head of the English
department at Sun Yat-sen University, explains:
with the improvement of English teaching in high schools, the
average student entering university now has a higher level
of English proficiency than previous generations of students.
However, students with high scores in English often choose
to study practical subjects other than English, such as
business studies, computer science, economics, medicine,
etc. Increasingly, a number of programs at universities in
China are even being taught through the medium of English.
Consequently, English majors have less and less advantage
over non-English majors, and departments of English have
had to restructure their syllabi. (Dai, 2012:21)
Dai Fan draws attention to the way that university

English departments throughout the region have been
forced to reconsider the nature of their courses. The old
diet of intensive reading and courses on phonology are
disappearing. In their place are imaginative approaches
such as the creative writing courses which Professor Dai
has implemented which take incoming students at B2
level and transform them into proficient C2 users.
36
This highlights a feature of the learning ladder of

English which is probably shared much more widely.
Although students are expected to have reached C1
level in English before entry, actual levels reached by
students at age 17-18 are in reality substantially lower.
Increasingly, the role of English departments is to guide
students over what is often a difficult gulf, from B- to
C- levels. The old teaching approaches largely fail to
accomplish this. Indeed, there are few successful models
globally of how to achieve the transition from B2 to C1
level on a large scale.
English in Hong Kong and Macau universities

Hong Kong students do not take the College English Test,
but they are encouraged to take the international IELTS
test, at government expense, in a scheme called Common
English Proficiency Assessment Scheme (CEPAS), first
introduced by the University Grants Committee in 2002.
Around two thirds of all students take IELTS in their
final year. Since those who take the test have this fact
included on their graduation transcript, one might guess
that proficient students are more motivated to take the
test than students who are less confident.
CEPAS scores have risen slightly over the years, despite
the fact that a higher percentage of students now take the
test (around 12,400 in 2010-2011). There is no evidence, in
other words, that standards of English amongst graduates
have been declining, as is sometimes claimed.
Over half of Hong Kong students in their final year are below C1 level widely
regarded as the minimum entry level for English-medium study. This suggests there
may be a mismatch between students English proficiency and the aspiration of Hong
Kong universities to be world class English-medium institutions.
Figure 11 shows the band results for IELTS test-takers in
both Hong Kong and mainland China. Although levels
of English in Hong Kong appear to be higher than on
the mainland, we need to remember that the majority of
test takers in Hong Kong are final-year students, taking
IELTS within the CEPAS scheme, whereas those in China
take IELTS as a gateway to overseas study. In other
words, mainland test-takers are likely to be younger, and
at an earlier point in their English-learning careers.
37
B2
C1
C2
percentage candidates
30
25
20
Mainland China
Hong Kong
15
10
Figure 11 The IELTS

performance of testtakers in mainland China
and Hong Kong, 2012
data. (Source: Cambridge
English)
5
0
IELTS Bands
Although Hong Kong universities refer to themselves as English-medium, they are far
from being English-only zones. Textbooks and assessments are usually in English but the
use of English in lectures is more mixed, depending on the subject and lecturer. Informal
use of English outside classes, however, is low.
In Hong Kong, the number of mainland students is

increasing, especially in Hong Kong University which
is the citys highest-ranking institution. Some reports
suggest local students are finding it difficult to compete
with these selected mainland students who also squeeze
out local candidates from the universitys overseas
exchange programmes with elite overseas universities.
>
The younger generation from the mainland constantly outperforms locals ...
they score high in exams, participate in social activities and even speak better
English than many local students. We invited investment bankers to give
seminars on campus, an HKU professor said, and after, all the mainland
students rushed to socialise with the speaker, handed in their resumes
and asked for internship opportunities, while many local students just hid
themselves in the back rows. [5847]
In Macau the situation is similar, except there are

proportionally more private sector institutions and a higher
percentage of mainland students. A recent study of English
usage amongst mainland students in Macau concluded:
Mainland students who come to Macao to pursue their
tertiary studies hope to improve their English proficiency by
studying in an English-medium university, but it turns out
that their chances of practising and developing their English
skills are actually very limited. (Zhang, 2013)
38
English teaching in the private sector

Private sector provision in both Hong Kong and
mainland China is extensive and diverse, varying from
small tutorial centres which supplement childrens study
at school to major international schools.
There is perceived to be a crisis in English-medium school provision in Hong

Kong, as government subsidy schemes are withdrawn, fees escalate, and an
increasing number of places in international schools are taken by local Chinese
children. This may, in turn, be reducing the number of English-speaking managers
willing to live in Hong Kong.
Most international schools in the region are located in
Hong Kong, but as the number of expatriate workers
elsewhere in the delta increases, so has the need for
international schools. Guangzhou has several such
schools, and a small number are now established in
Shenzhen. In 2012, Harrow school, a British private
school, opened a new campus in the Hong Kong New
Territories in daily commuting distance of mainland
China.
Most private provision in the region is, however,
designed to be supplementary to school. There are many
private language school chains, such as New Oriental
an organisation which operates throughout China and
is now listed on the New York stock exchange. New
Oriental advertises over 50 branches in the region, mainly
in Guangzhou and Shenzhen. English is also the mainstay
for most Chinese-operated tutorial centres which are often
focused on preparing students for local tests.
The distinction between private and public schools in China is not always clear
cut. Many elite schools in the public sector will accept a student who does not have
a sufficiently high exam score if parents are willing to pay fees. Children of migrant
workers often do not have free access to local government schools they have to pay
fees at a public school, or attend cheap private schools which cater for migrants.
There also exists a wide range of international language
school chains, such as Wall Street, EF, Berlitz and Disney.
These often have a presence in city-centre shopping
malls and recruitment points in metro stations and other
public places.
39
Figure 12 Disney
English, which opened
its first centres in 2008
in Shanghai, now has
centres in Guangzhou
and Shenzhen. It is one
of several major language
school chains operating in
the delta region.
The role of foreign English teachers in China

English teaching in mainland China schools is largely
focused on the need to pass local and national high-stakes
exams, but none of these exams include spoken English
as a compulsory component. Typically, students will
have to complete a battery of multiple-choice questions
and be expected to know specific vocabulary lists.
This may help explain the strangely marginal
situation of the many foreign English teachers working
in kindergartens, schools, colleges and tutorial centres
throughout the delta region. The blogs which document
their lives in China are often filled with stories of poor
working conditions and professional frustration.
In practice, foreign teachers in China are usually kept
at arms length from the main teaching duties, which are
left in the hands of Chinese teachers who understand
the system. Stanley (2013) in an ethnographic study
of foreign teachers in Shanghai universities, came to
conclusions which will resonate with expatriate English
teachers throughout China:
Whereas CELTA-type courses stress language awareness and
the ability to clarify and provide controlled and freer practice
of target language points within a communicative framework,
teachers needs in the context are primarily that teachers will
perform foreignness, provide fun lessons, and perhaps
engage students in oral fluency practice provided that such
activities are given face validity by seeming to be controlled
practice of specific language points.
Within the delta region, there exists a clear centreperiphery pattern with regard to foreign teacher
employment: those employers based in suburbs and
40
small towns, and less prestigious institutions, pay a

lower wage; provide poorer working conditions; and
are often willing to employ teachers on the basis that
they look American or European, regardless of actual
qualifications or experience. Even where pay levels are
generous in local terms, they may still be insufficient to
attract qualified, experienced teachers from overseas.
The following extract from an article published by
an American teacher in his home newspaper indicates a
typical situation: young untrained teachers whose main
virtue is that they are native speakers of English.
>
We trainees are being babied by comparison to the other teachers before us.
[ language school chain] has been in China for 15 years. Their program is a very
good one with a well thought out curriculum. Even though I have never taught in
my life, I feel comfortable taking on the challenges of teaching given this companys
support system. [3851]
A tension between tests and real world needs

Despite this rather depressing view of what drives
English learning in the delta region, two sectors, both
of which are experiencing rapid growth, seem more
oriented to developing real proficiency in English
communication.
The first sector is composed of the kindergartens
which, it seems, are opening in all the towns and suburbs
of the delta. Whilst quality is variable, there seems to be
a parental desire to give their young children a head
start in English. The British Council in Hong Kong, for
example, has responded to this eagerness for toddler
English by introducing a new Stay and play English
course for children as young as 18 months.
The second sector caters for young adults, preparing
students for overseas study or employment, both of
which are discussed in later chapters.
Figure 13 As the advert
on this bus in Zhuhai
demonstrates, private
language schools now
often promote the
idea that English is an
important life skill.
41
Both the very young and older sectors seem more

oriented to externally validated notions of English
proficiency than those catering for school age students.
Spoken English proficiency has the status of an extracurricular activity. Mary ODonnel, a long-time observer
of urban change in Shenzhen, commented on the low
priority often given to such activities:
>
Many parents and students put off extracurricular activities until college.
... Many parents and students have clear priorities: get into a good high
school and college and then indulge in their interests. Those students
who do pursue total education do so knowing the risks. Whats more,
they tend to be either well-off, carry foreign passports, or prodigiously
talented. [5384]
What level of English do local learners reach?

Because the tests which learners must negotiate in
their educational careers cannot be easily correlated
with functional proficiency, it is difficult to establish a
ladder of English aligned to the CEFR. Nevertheless,
my perception is that standards of English are improving
fast in mainland China.
Although both the nature of high-stakes English testing in China and the methods
used in teaching encourage a rote learning of vocabulary rather than a communicative
proficiency in the language, it seems that an increasing number of young people in the
delta region can communicate in English. We need to understand how and why this is
happening.
There may be several reasons for increasing achievement

in Chinese schools in the region: as employment
conditions in the delta become more like those of Hong
Kong, the importance of English proficiency becomes
better recognised by universities, students and parents.
Study overseas is also becoming a more possible and
attractive option for families; a route which requires
a minimum proficiency in English to be established by
means of an internationally recognised test.
Paul Sze, an experienced teacher-trainer and school
inspector in Hong Kong, now working at the Chinese
University, has been working with teachers in Foshan
42
a city now merging with Guangzhou. He confirmed

that levels of English on the mainland seemed to be
improving.
>
Had a most uplifting experience today visiting a primary school in Foshan,

meeting with the panel of 15 energetic and devoted English teachers, and
observing a P3 lesson that completely blew me away. The children were
using English in speaking and writing that not even all S1 students in HK
could produce; and they so enjoyed learning English. ... Im really starting to
worry about Hong Kong. In February last year, David Graddol made a public
prediction that in seven years time, the average student in China would have
better English than the average student in Hong Kong. From what I have
observed so far, this day may really come. And it may take less than seven
years. [2082]
Changing attitudes towards English

Throughout the 25 years or so that I have visited China
as a foreign expert, I have heard the constant complaint
that too much emphasis is put on English; that many
kinds of employment do not really require English;
that as a result of English mania people are given jobs
because they have passed the English test, even though
they do not have the skills the post requires; and that the
heavy concentration on English is weakening students
command of Chinese language and culture.
An English major I interviewed at Sun Yat-sen
University in Guangzhou explained:
Student: [The reason] I can really talk with others in
English is because of my study in the university.
Although English is a compulsory course in
middle school, primary school it is focused on
vocabulary and grammar, all for tests.
Me:
Compared with your [younger] cousin, do you

think it has changed?
Student: A little bit changed. Not sure much. We now

have many ways, we have video, we have
computer, we have internet to help learning
English become more fun. But the purpose of
learning English is still for the college entrance
exam for the middle school students.
43
These long-standing complaints have recently been

echoed by the state news agency Xinhua, which suggests
they are now gaining high-level political recognition.
>
Peoples mania for English learning has wasted education resources and
threatened the study of Chinese, said Zhang Shuhua, dean of the information
and intelligence institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Zhang
made the remarks at a meeting during the annual session of the 12th
National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference,
the top political advisory body, which closed on Tuesday. His outspoken words
have triggered intense online discussion, with nearly 90,000 comments posted
on the topic by 9 p.m. Thursday on Sina Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of
Twitter. [5326]
This may indicate that English will play a less important

role in high-stakes exams in future. If this is the case, it
can only focus attention more on the need to develop realworld proficiency in English language communication.
Xinhua later reported that the top universities in China,
who set their own entrance exams, were dropping tests
of English for many subjects in 2013.
>
Chinas top universities began their annual independent recruitment exams

on Saturday, with English no longer included among the exams compulsory
subjects. In most of these universities, those who have applied for science and
engineering majors will only be required to take math and physics exams, while
art students will be required to take Chinese and math exams. Yu Han, an
enrollment officer at Tsinghua University, said the subject was eliminated in
order to reduce students workload and attract talented students who excel in
the targeted subjects. [5337]
Any reduction in the gate-keeping role of English is,

however, likely to lead to a reduced role for English in
the school curriculum.
We may be on the brink of a change of status in relation to English in China. In the

past, the main driver of English in China has been the need to pass national exams.
In future, this orientation may decline, but the need to obtain a real communicative
competence in English may be increasing, as discussed in the chapters in this book on
Overseas study, and English, jobs and the economy.
44
Migrant workers and education

What happens to the children of migrant rural workers?
This is one of less frequently told stories of Chinas
economic rise, despite the fact that it involves family
and education disruption on such an extraordinary scale
that it may prove to be as powerful a factor in shaping
Chinas future social and economic development as the
one-child family policy.
There are relatively few children in the factory towns
of the delta. Migrants usually have to leave children
behind to be brought up by other family members in
the countryside because children have the right of free
public schooling only in places where their mothers have
hukou, or permanent residence registration.
Instead of thinking of China as providing free education at post-compulsory stages,

it is easier to see it as a complex system of scholarships and bursaries or subsidies.
The availability of such subsidies usually depends on a students hukou, and on scores in
entrance exams. For the children of migrant workers, it is usually cheaper to attend low
quality private schools than public schools. But this is an area of rapid policy change.
Nationally, 22 million children were left behind by
migrant workers [3536]. In the delta, however, an
increasing number of migrants appear to be bringing
their children with them over 60% in Guangzhou
according to one report [3553]. However, in order to do
this, they need to find low-cost family accommodation
usually in one of the areas of cheap rented housing in
the cities known as urban villages. However, many of
these areas in Guangzhou and Shenzhen are now being
demolished.
The trend towards whole families migrating has led
to an interesting development of low-cost private schools
in some local neighbourhoods, established to cater for
children of parents who do not have local hukou, and
hence who do not qualify for local public schooling. The
report on Guangzhou [3553] however, suggests that over
5% of these children do not attend school at all.
In recent years, fewer migrant workers are coming
to the delta area from elsewhere in China as factories
relocate (see Chapter 6). Some remaining factories are
responding to the increased cost of labour by employing
(often undocumented) workers from neighbouring
countries such as Vietnam.
45
Current trends amongst migrant workers both skilled and unskilled seem to be
leading to contradictory and unpredictable outcomes in relation to education demand
and provision, and the use of English and other languages in the region.
Figure 14 The main gate to Sun Yat-sen

University in Guangzhou. Although Sun Yat-sen is
one of Chinas most prestigious universities, and
was originally established in the 19th century
as a training school which prepared students for
overseas study in the USA, there are no English,
or even pinyin, signs at the entrance.
46
4
Overseas study has a long history in China. Indeed,
several prestigious universities, such as Tsinghua
University in Beijing and Sun Yat-sen University in
Guangzhou, began life as Christian mission schools
preparing Chinese students for study in the USA.
After the opening up of China from the 1980s, the
number of students travelling overseas began to increase;
by the start of the 21st century, Chinese students had
become an important part of university life in the Englishspeaking destinations of the US, UK and Australia.
overseas
study
Rising numbers
In the mid-2000s, the rising trend of overseas Chinese
students seemed to falter. In 2006 (Graddol, 2006) I
predicted that the apparently unlimited stream of
students coming out of China would decline, and
that instead of providing the worlds largest source of
international students, China would itself become a net
destination for overseas study.
There were several reasons for concluding this. My
research had found that the number of places available in
higher education within China was growing rapidly: in
Guangzhou alone, in 2004 over 100,000 additional places
were made available when the island of Xiaoguwei
in Panyu district opened as a university city. Across
the delta there has been a similar explosion in higher
education provision in both public and private sectors.
At the same time, there are fewer young people
graduating from high school because of demographic
decline even accounting for the increased proportion
of students staying in education beyond the compulsory
age of education. This means that the competition for
places in Chinese universities was getting easier.
Furthermore, attitudes of Chinese employers also
seemed to be changing. Finding local graduates more
pliable and better connected in the social networks which
are paramount in Chinese business, returnees sometimes
47
found themselves less employable. This encouraged

students to stay in China for tertiary study. As recently
as summer, 2012, a BBC news report seemed to confirm
this interpretation:
>
There was a time when Chinese students who obtained higher education
abroad were considered to be the most fortunate of their generation. After
graduating from elite universities in the US and Britain, they were virtually
guaranteed the best career prospects upon their return. Those students were
colloquially referred to as sea turtles returning home with the world on their
backs. But things are different now. [2475]
But there was another reason for believing that numbers

of departing students would decline and that China
would become a net destination for international students.
Interest in China from the rest of the world was growing,
and so was the number of places in Chinese universities
open to foreigners. Many more courses in Chinese
institutions are now taught in English making them
more attractive to overseas students.
One further trend was also evident: the growth in
transnational education. The University of Nottingham,
for example, was one of the first foreign universities to
set up a branch campus in China, at Ningbo. Students
across Asia, including Chinese, now had an alternative,
and cheaper, route to a foreign degree and perhaps the
opportunity to study for at least part of the time in the UK.
The inflow of international students has indeed grown
rapidly. The Chinese Ministry of Education is hoping to
have 500,000 foreign students by 2020. [1912]
Why has the outflow increased?

However, the numbers of outward bound students have
also increased much faster than expected. While the flow
of Chinese students going overseas slowed in 2006, it then
sharply increased, and has since been growing at a rate of
20-25% or more a year. Chinese undergraduates to the US
rose by 43% in 2011. [2668] A recent survey of Shanghais
key high schools found that over 40% of students are
considering undergraduate study overseas. [3302]
The reasons for the continued increase in demand for
overseas study seem to be complex, but understanding
the underlying causes will help us understand the
likelihood of shifts of behaviour in the future.
48
Students from China in USA

200,000
150,000
100,000
Figure 15 The growth

of students from China
studying in the US
increased sharply from
2006. (Institute of
International Education,
2012)
50,000
The growing middle-class in China, who are better able

to pay the costs associated with overseas study, is one
such driver of increased demand for overseas study. This
trend is amplified by the one-child family policy, which
means that parents are able to concentrate wealth and
resources on one child alone.
Parents, now better educated themselves, may also be
more keenly aware of failings in the Chinese education
system. They see a home system emphasising competitive
tests, rote-learning, and memory skills. But are aware
that employers in knowledge-intensive industries the
employment destination for many graduates now
want practical experience, problem-solving abilities,
and critical judgment. In other words, many employers
looking for highly-skilled workers are finding candidates
with overseas experience more attractive.
By opting for an alternative education route, parents
may also be able to spare their children the pressure of
the dreaded gaokao exam. Students must take the gaokao
in the province where they have hukou even if it is not
where they live or attend school. Successful students are
then put into the quota system for university entry in
that province. This makes it difficult for students in the
provinces who wish to enter elite centres in Beijing such
as Tsinghua and Peking Universities.
But it is not only those students seeking top national
universities who face a problem with the quota system.
Many children of migrant workers have trouble even
studying at their preferred local university. They may
have had to take gaokao in a distant province which is the
place of their mothers hukou.
49
Figure 16 Dr Kuan Huang,

the first Chinese to study
abroad, came from Zhuhai
and went to Morrisons
School in Canton before
studying medicine at
Edinburgh University. After
graduating in 1855 and
obtaining a PhD in 1857,
he returned to practise in
Hong Kong. A statue of
him, donated by the city of
Zhuhai, now stands outside
the Confucius Institute in
Edinburgh, inaugurated in
2006. [3400]
Chinas parents are getting richer

The rules surrounding hukou affect all potential students,
including children of the growing number of very rich
parents. According to one survey (GroupM Knowledge
Hurun Wealth Report 2013) there are now over 438,000
people in the mainland delta cities whose net assets
exceed six million CNY. An analysis of their spending
on education concluded that around 80% intended
educating their children overseas, and that 80% of these
would choose an English-speaking country. In fact,
the report found that the rich in Tier 1 cities (including
Guangzhou and Shenzhen) showed a preference for a
US destination, whilst those in Tier 2 cities (including
Foshan and Dongguan) preferred the UK.
Chinas overseas students are getting younger

It appears that Chinese students are now younger than
ever when they first travel overseas. A recent article
in China Daily claims that Old views are changing on
overseas education.
>
50
A poll for the latest China Education Xiaokang Index found almost 40% of
Chinese believe the best time to study abroad is now at undergraduate level,
while about 21% said it is during high school. The traditional idea that
students go overseas after they have bachelors degrees gained only 17%
support, and about 4% said it should be at post-doctoral level, according to the
report compiled by Xiaokang, a State-run magazine. [3210]
How the choice of destination for overseas study is made

Middle-class and wealthy Chinese parents see many advantages to placing a child
overseas and are prepared to commit a large proportion of the family income to
support this decision. Childrens education already accounts for around 25% of such
families annual expenditure. For most very rich families, sending their child overseas
is seen as an opportunity to invest in property and perhaps aim towards long-term
migration. Those countries which allow a student to stay and work after graduation
are thus especially attractive; those with strict immigration policy less so.
The family, not the student, usually decides. This is traditional in China. Although
the younger generation increasingly have their own aspirations, the financial
commitment required for overseas study means the whole family continues to
play a decisive role.
2
3
Is a family member already overseas? Contacts and social networks, including

diasporic ones, are important in decision-making.
Is there a trusted intermediary? Where no prior relationships exist, a family
may use a local agent an educational consultant or counsellor to smooth
the way, assist with applications, and use prior relationships with particular
schools and universities to provide introductions.
Where is the institution in international league tables? Although league tables

have a mixed reception in the west, they remain influential in China, though
what matters is an institutions ranking in the particular subject. (The first
global league table for universities was invented in China, by Shanghai Jiao Tong
University, in 2003). Reviews and discussion in social media and commentary on
educational portals within China appear to be more influential than sales tours
by the institutions themselves.
Is there a local pathway to an overseas institution? Some high schools in China

now have special sections where they prepare students for qualifications such
as SAT which offer an alternative to the Chinese gaokao exam for entry to
overseas universities. There are also coaching colleges which prepare students for
interviews and help with applications. Some colleges in Hong Kong cater for this
market by offering different preparation for UK universities and US universities,
emphasising the different qualities each institution seeks from candidates.
Richer parents will place a child in a private school overseas to ensure they are
properly prepared for college. The richer the family, the younger the child is
sent overseas.
51
This can be seen in education conferences, fairs and

exhibitions: whereas the market first catered mainly for
one-year postgraduate study (MAs in the UK and MBAs
in the US preferred), and was followed by the rise of the
undergraduate market, the boarding schools in the west
now gather to offer services to wealthy Chinese.
The 4-2-1 family pyramid, in which four grandparents and two parents focus their
spending on a single child, helps explain why more middle-class families can now
afford to send their child for study abroad. But in the next generation, the pattern may
reverse. In more cities, two single-child couples are allowed two children themselves.
They may also find they are expected to support up to eight grandparents and four
parents, as well as other extended family, as well their own children. Family economics
will change again.
In the past, relatively few students who went overseas for

study returned to China, despite penalties imposed on
families. In recent years an increasing number of students
have been returning to China after study. [1957] This may
reflect more difficult employment conditions for students
abroad (including tougher immigration regulations), but
it may also indicate growing employment opportunities
at home. As Chinese enterprises move up the value
chain, they require more experienced, English-speaking
graduate employees, and are actively attempting to
attract students with overseas experience. Shenzhen and
Hong Kong have both emerged as key cities offering
employment opportunities for returning graduates.
Perhaps these cities also show less resentment against
returnees than other parts of China. In Shenzhen, after
all, almost everyone is a migrant.
52
5
The economy of the Pearl River Delta was built on trade
between China and the west. From the earliest days of
the Portuguese trade in the 16th century, which brought
silk, rice, tea and porcelain to Europe, commerce has
been the lifeblood of the delta economy.
The original thirteen factories in Canton were
constructed outside the city walls, and strict rules were
imposed by the Chinese on the movement of foreigners.
A caste of minders arose, called the linguists who
acted as intermediaries between foreign and local
merchants. The factories were not places of manufacture,
but where the local factors or wholesalers established
their warehouses. There remains a Thirteen factories
Road (Shisanhang Lu) in Guangzhou, though it is
now some distance from the river. The successor to the
hongs (merchant businesses) is in many ways the new
Canton Fair complex, which receives several hundreds of
thousands of visitors each year to its trade fairs.
Manufacturing became important only after World
War II. Hong Kong had for a century or more relied on
its role as an intermediary in world trade with China, but
fears that China had become part of the communist bloc
gave rise to international sanctions and a collapse in such
trade. At the same time, business leaders with capital,
english, jobs
and the
economy
Figure 17 Thirteen
factories road still exists
in Guangzhou, though it is
now some distance from
the river.
53
Figure 18 The Grand

Lisboa casino in Macau:
one of many which now
dominate the Macau
economy.
fleeing the new communist regime from Shanghai, set

up new manufacturing businesses in Hong Kong. This
created a new industrial-led, and largely Chinese owned
and managed, economy in Hong Kong.
When the return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty
was agreed by Britain in the 1980s, many Hong Kong
businesses began transferring their factories to mainland
China, where labour and land was much cheaper. This
led to the business model often described as front shop,
back factory which describes how management, finance,
logistics, design, marketing and retail components of
businesses have been kept in Hong Kong, whilst the
largely unskilled jobs have been relocated to mainland
China. This separation was accelerated by the designation
of Shenzhen, on the border with Hong Kong, as a Special
Economic Zone, with many tax advantages.
Employment in the Pearl River Delta is thus now
diverse. Trade remains an important component, but
manufacturing is also a major contributor to employment
and the economy in the delta region.
Meanwhile, the services sector has been growing
rapidly, both in specialised, high-level sectors such as
banking and finance, and in broad-based retail and
hospitality services catering for growing numbers of
tourists and business visitors, sectors which themselves
may have both local and international connections.
Alongside this diversity, we can see how specialised
manufacturing and services cluster in different cities: the
economy of Macau, for example, is dominated by the casino
54
business. Heavy manufacturing (such as car factories)

takes place in Foshan and Guangzhou, and electronic
assembly in Shenzhen and Dongguan. But each of these
cities includes a number of townships, each of which
typically specialise in different areas. There are single
towns which specialise in LED lighting, for example, or
manufacturing of denim clothing, or printing.
This pattern means that employment opportunities
and skill requirements in the delta now vary city by city
and even town by town. And as the regional economy
restructures in response to changes in the global
economy, particular towns are likely to suffer more than
others. Some may even become ghost towns, as factories
close and migrant workers move elsewhere.
English in the workplace

The division of labour between Hong Kong and mainland
China has been a major factor in the continuing economic
development of the region. It has also, however,
contributed to the historic need for English skills in the
Hong Kong workplace and the corresponding perceived
lack of demand elsewhere in the delta. The next chapter
explains how this situation is now rapidly changing, as
the economy of the delta becomes more like Hong Kong.
An extremely useful insight into perceived needs
for English in the Hong Kong workplace is, meanwhile,
provided by government sponsored research by Scolar
ten years ago. The Hong Kong workplace language
programme provides a rare example of a local evaluation
of the workplace needs for English proficiency.
Figure 19 Expectations
of spoken English
proficiency according
to job types using the
CEFR. Based on Hong
Kong Workplace English
Campaign, 2003.
Low proficiency
job types
Frontline Service
Personnel
Clerks
Receptionists/
Telephone Operators
Secretaries
Executives/
Administrators/
Associate Professionals
A2
B1
B2
C1
55
The research, which led to training programmes and a

public awareness campaign, suggested that there were
few, if any, job functions in Hong Kong which did not
require some level of English. Although the programme
established its own proficiency levels, they have since
been mapped to CEFR levels, allowing us to make
international comparisons.
In the past, workplace English has been seen as a form
of English for Special Purposes (ESP) in which particular
skills are required, such as making presentations to
colleagues, or writing emails. Recent research, however,
seems to indicate that workers increasingly need more
flexible skills those associated with at least CEFR C1
level. For example, a recent report by The International
Research Foundation for English Language Education
(TIRF) concluded:
What are the English language communicative needs of
the 21st century workforce? Those courses which have
traditionally been called business English and English
for specific purposes have mainly emphasized developing
future workers skills in the classic business tasks of formal
presentations, letter and email writing, formal negotiations,
etc. However, recent studies highlight the importance of
English for informal interaction and socializing in workforce
contexts. English learners urgently need to be sensitized to
communicative strategies for establishing relationships and
maintaining rapport in the workplace (Kassim & Ali, 2010;
Forey & Nunan, 2002). In meetings, the ability to take part in
discussions is considered much more important than actually
carrying out formal presentations. (Fitzpatrick & ODowd,
2012)
Such research suggests that the requirements for English

amongst professionals in Hong Kong were underestimated by the Workplace English project in 2003. On
the other hand, a minimum requirement of CEFR level
A2 for even low proficiency job types seems excessive
and certainly not achieved in practice even in Hong
Kong today.
The growing demand for multilingual workers

One of the constraints on multinational companies setting
up regional headquarters in mainland China is the need
for managers to be fluent in Cantonese, Putonghua and
English. Such trilingual abilities are increasingly sought
56
after in all professions. This need has been created by the

expanding need for Putonghua in delta workplaces. Even
in Hong Kong, the role of Putonghua may be eroding the
status of both Cantonese and English. As one mainland
worker in the finance sector recently explained:
>
I earn more money than most of the Hongkongers and I always ask them
to speak Putonghua to me, one of my Beijing friends said with pride. ...
Top investment banks and hedge funds prefer to hire mainlanders over
Hongkongers, ABCs and Westerners for their China business knowledge. In
Central, Putonghua is becoming a popular language, not only in shopping malls,
but also in offices. [5847]
The Hong Kong economy, especially in the financial

and legal services sector, has long relied on imported
talent from Britain and the USA. The majority of these
workers especially those brought in on three- to
four-year contracts do not speak Chinese. This is
increasingly seen as a disadvantage. At the same time,
the supply of proficient and qualified English speakers,
especially mainlanders who have studied and have work
experience overseas, is becoming more plentiful.
The growing integration of the Hong Kong economy
with the rest of the Pearl River Delta has created a further
reason why job opportunities for monolingual expat
English speakers appear to be diminishing.
Hong Kong has prided itself on its rule of law, based
on English common law. However, after the agreement to
return sovereignty to China in the late 1980s, the Chinese
language has played a progressively greater role in the
Hong Kong legal system, with both languages regarded
as equally authentic in legal drafting.
In keeping with the Basic Laws provisions on bilingualism,
all legislation in Hong Kong is enacted in both Chinese
and English, and both versions are accorded equal status.
Thanks to the bilingual legislation programme begun in
1989, authentic Chinese texts have been completed of all preexisting legislation which had been enacted in the English
language only, and Hong Kongs statute book is now entirely
bilingual. (Hong Kong Department of Justice, nd)
Now that most court cases involve both English and

Chinese, there has been a substantial fall in the number
of monolingual English-speaking lawyers in Hong Kong.
57
>
With more court cases being heard in Chinese, lawyers who know only English
say the amount of work available for them has dropped, causing some to earn
less, go into early retirement or move abroad. [5482]
These constraints appear to be affecting employment

elsewhere in Hong Kong, where the use of Chinese (both
Cantonese and Putonghua) is growing in public and
commercial life and trilingual employees are increasingly
sought after.
English amongst migrant workers

The majority of the millions of migrant workers engaged
in factory work in the delta do not speak English and do
not need to. It is also likely that the first wave of such
migrants had rarely reached the stage of education at
which English teaching began.
Figure 20 Many of the
factories in Dongguan
and Shenzhen have large
dormitory buildings within
their compounds where
migrant workers live in
crowded accommodation.
However, Leslie Chang (2010), in a ground-breaking

ethnographic study of young migrant women working
in the factories of Dongguan, noted the importance
of English to this group of young workers (see panel).
For almost all, learning English was seen as a route to
self-improvement. Some hoped to escape the repetitive
drudgery of the assembly line by transferring to a factory
office or even the ultimate dream for many migrant
workers returning home to establish their own business,
perhaps even becoming a factory owner themselves.
Others saw learning English as a means of becoming a
better person; a part of the transition from rural to urban
identity and so also improving their marriage prospects.
Acquiring a sound functional proficiency in English
was often less important than the skill to blag their way
through a job interview, or to pass themselves off as a
more educated person.
58
English amongst Leslie Changs factory girls

English also underlay the working life of Dongguan,
where it was the language of business for the thousands
of factories catering to foreign clients. This didnt mean
people actually understood English; they learned just
enough to function within their specific industry. Often
they spoke in abbreviations and acronyms, a truncated
language that would have confused any American.
(Chang, 2010:247)
If I learned English, she told me, 1 could enter new
circles. By then, I knew her well enough to translate that
remark: English might be another way to find a husband.
(Chang, 2010:248)
Now Liu Yixia had a job teaching English to factory
executiveswhich surprised me, although it shouldnt
have. In Dongguan, barely knowing something qualified
you to teach it to others. I asked her what she planned
to do next. (Chang, 2010:252)
Chunming said. This year I will either learn English or
start my own business. (Chang, 2010:252)
How about the travel industry? I asked her.
She placed her palm flat against the top of her
head. Look at me. I dont meet the minimum height
requirement. Tour guides must be at least 1.6 meters
tall. Rightthat was another dumb suggestion. I had
forgotten about all the ways in which height could affect
the utility of English in a place like Dongguan. (Chang,
2010:2545)
It felt strange to me to sit in a Dongguan factory and
watch young people so constrained by their own timidity.
The city was built on making do and getting by; the secret
of success was learning just enough to talk your way into
a clerks job or a teaching position or whatever else you
wanted. But in Liu Yixias classroom I saw the limits of that
way of thinking. Learning a foreign language properly took
time, and there were no shortcuts. You could not fake
your way into English. (Chang, 2010:2601)
59
Whilst Chang suggests migrant workers may want

to learn English primarily for show, many jobs are now
appearing in the services sector in the delta from retail
to hotels which can command higher pay and greater
prospects for candidates who possess a knowledge of
English.
However, interviews with hotel workers in Shenzhen
suggest that where a job requires English, local employers
typically assess communication skills informally by
holding part of the interview in English. Independent
certification of English proficiency does not seem to be
regarded as important. This may be related to poorly
developed employment legislation or at least poor
enforcement. The employment culture which Chang
describes appears widespread: formal credentials are
given less importance than prima facie ability to do the
job and immediate availability. A new recruit can easily
be sacked at the end of the week if they prove unable to
perform the job.
60
6
It is impossible to understand the changing role of English
in the Pearl River Delta today without understanding the
profound economic restructuring now taking place in the
region, and the extensive social, political and educational
implications of this transition.
China manages its economy through five-year plans,
created by central government and cascaded down to
provincial and municipal levels. Each plan provides a
shared understanding of the countrys economic road
map; it sets the direction in which enterprises, institutions,
and government departments should aim, encouraged
by incentives such as tax breaks, development land and
revised regulations, such as those governing hukou.
China has now embarked on its 12th five-year plan, for
20112015. At local levels, details continue to be finalised
and its influence is likely to extend beyond 2015.
the
great
economic
and social
transition
What does the current plan mean for the delta?

Chinas ambition is to move up the value chain in
economic production which has clear implications for the
Pearl River Delta. Its glory days as the factory of the world
making cheap goods for export are already numbered. The
factories which remain are now investing in design and
building their own brands rather than manufacturing for
other brands, whether it be Apple, Miele or Adidas. The
former Guangdong party secretary, Wang Yang, described
this process as emptying the cage and setting the birds
free.
To encourage this shift, legal minimum wages have
been regularly increased. This is effectively pricing lowmargin factories out of business, which are shifting
elsewhere. New regulations are intended to reduce
pollution and environmental damage again increasing
costs for some kinds of manufacturing.
The causes for this transformation are complex,
and relate both to top down, policy-led directives
and demographic and social changes which have led
China into its next stage of economic development as a
services-based economy, catering largely for domestic
consumption rather than export.
61
400
350
300
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
250
200
150
100
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
50
0.2
0
The demographic decline of young workers

The one child policy in China has had a dramatic impact
on the number of children moving through school and
entering the workforce: nationally, the total population
between 1529 years is in sharp decline, and is expected
to halve in the coming decades.
This demographic decline is magnified in the delta,
as migrant workers below the age of 30 (i.e. those who
possess the stamina for long hours of repetitive work) are
increasingly leaving the area, as work opportunities are
growing nearer their homes in other provinces.
The Lewis turning point

In 2011, Foxconn announced it would install one million
robots within three years in its factories [445]. This
suggests the delta has reached what economists refer to
as the Lewis turning point: the point where labour costs
surge because of a shortage of workers and it becomes
cost-effective to invest capital in machines to replace
human labour.
One example is a Hong Kong-owned factory in
Dongguan which makes moulds for plastic toys. The
owner established a new plant in Hong Kong where an
expensive German-made machine requires just two
technicians to operate but produces the same number of
62
Figure 21 Projections for

population aged 15-29
years in China (left) and
Hong Kong (right) in
millions. (United Nations)
moulds that would normally take 60 workers to produce

at the groups semi-automated factory in Dongguan [186].
Fewer workers may be needed, but they must have the
education and skills to undertake computer-aided design
and operate a complex machine.
A concentration of fewer, more skilled and higherwaged workers will stimulate consumption and the use
of local services such as health services, leisure venues,
restaurants and educational courses. This new pattern
of employment and consumption suggests there will be
a growing demand for English, especially at the higher
levels associated with graduate employment.
Where are the factories going?

The factories employing cheap labour are now leaving
the area. But where are they going? And what is replacing
them? The answers to these questions will help define the
next phase of economic globalisation, as well as help us
understand the changing need for English in the region.
Some factories are relocating to the provinces in
China where migrants originally came from: Foxconn,
for example, has established a new manufacturing base
in Zhengzhou, in the central province of Henan, where
it already employs 120,000 workers. Wages are lower
there than in the delta, but so is the cost of living, giving
employees higher disposable incomes. [3016]
Some factories have moved to neighbouring countries.
Foxconn is building an operation in Indonesia, which may
provide jobs in the region for up to one million workers
[3113]. Many textile and garment factories are shifting
to Bangladesh, while some toy factories have relocated
to Vietnam. In this new geography of outsourced
manufacturing, Singapore may be challenging Hong
Kong as a regional financial and educational hub.
The speed of factory closures, although fast, is
constrained by the complex supply chains which are
disrupted when, for example, component manufacturers
and end assembly lines are geographically separated.
However, the dispersal of supply chains across ASEAN
countries, which has already adopted English as its
official language and which will be launching a new
ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) in 2015 is likely to
lead to a greater use of English as a working lingua franca.
The factory closures are symptomatic of two further
63
Figure 22 The old flatted

factories and industrial
buildings in Kwun Tong,
Hong Kong are gradually
being replaced by
office blocks. A similar
economic transition
is now taking place
elsewhere in the Pearl
River Delta, transforming
both employment and
urban landscapes.
economic shifts, both of which are giving rise to an

increased need for English. Many developing economies,
at the stage of development which this part of China has
now reached, experience a long-term shift away from
the primary sector (typically agriculture and fishing),
through the secondary sector (industrialisation) and
eventually towards an economy in which the tertiary
sector (services) dominates, both in terms of contribution
to GDP and employment.
The Fisher-Clark model of economic development
(named after two economists working in the early 20th
century) seems to capture well what has happened in the
Pearl River Delta.
Percentage of workforce
70
60
Primary
sector
50
Tertiary
sector
Secondary
sector
40
30
Quartenary
sector
20
10
0
Pre-industrial
Industrial
Post - industrial
Time
The implications for English language are fairly clear:

whilst the primary sector does not require much in the
way of communication skills of its workers, the services
sector does. The high-level services, such as those in
64
Figure 23 Economies
tend to develop in similar
ways, in which the
services sector eventually
dominates. This model is
sometimes referred to as
the Fisher-Clark model.
financial services and research and development, require

higher level skills in English, as can be seen from the
Hong Kong Workplace English project (described
in the previous chapter). A second trend towards
globalisation means that the kind of jobs which did not
require English a decade or so ago, now do. For example,
shop assistants in areas where there is increased tourism
or business visitors need English to communicate with
customers. This effect is felt variably throughout the
region: even in Hong Kong (see Part two), there are large
differences in requirements for English in different parts
of the city.
In research I carried out in 2010, I calculated the impact
of the changing structure of Hong Kong employment in
recent decades on needs for English in the workforce.
I took the lower end estimates for basic service jobs
(such as shop assistants) and upper end expectations
for professionals. Using the data provided by the Hong
Kong government on the structure of employment, I was
able to show that a missing middle was developing
in workplace requirements for English. That is, many
jobs in the services sector now require basic proficiency
in English, especially in routine interactions. But the
increasing number of professional and administrative
jobs in Hong Kong require a flexibility and confidence
in English which goes beyond the intermediate B levels.
1993
30
20
10
0
40
percentage of workforce
percentage of workforce
40
A1/A2 B1/B2
C1
Figure 24 An analysis
of the structure of
employment in Hong
Kong suggests that there
has been a significant
shift towards the need
for at least C1 levels of
English in the workplace.
2009
30
20
10
0
A1/A2 B1/B2
C1
As we learn more about the role of English in other

parts of the world, such as Brazil or India, it is becoming
clear that this tendency towards a bimodal pattern (in
65
which there is least requirement for intermediate B level

English users) may be increasingly common. If so, it
raises serious questions about how educational systems
can best meet this demand, without building in patterns
of unequal access to English learning.
As the economy of the Pearl River Delta restructures,
it is beginning to look more like that of Hong Kong. In
other words, we can expect a similar growing demand,
especially in cities such as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, for
graduates with high levels of English proficiency.
This fact has already been alluded to by leaders
of the new global companies in the region, such as the
Shenzhen-based genome decoding service provider, BGI.
>
Our education system has to be changed fast ... we need a more challenging,
more creative education system. Otherwise we still, for most Chinese
companies, are followers following the UK and the States to try to catch up.
Wang Jian, founder of BGI, Shenzhen [5852]
A key question arises of where this supply will be

found. It is likely that, like Hong Kong (see Part two),
many of these graduates will be migrants either foreign
professional workers, or returnees (Chinese who have
studied and worked overseas).
66
Figure 25 Throughout the

delta cities, urban villages
are being demolished to
make way for office buildings
and shopping malls.
Political and social integration

The current five-year plan envisages closer integration of
the whole delta area in economic, political and physical
terms. When high-speed rail links and the ZhuhaiHong
Kong bridge are completed, no delta cities will be more
than an hours journey time apart.
Yet many Hong Kong businesses and institutions,
such as universities and hospitals, already work
across the boundary. China is seeking to expand such
cooperation to use Hong Kongs expertise and finance to
accelerate the shift to a knowledge-based economy in the
rest of the Pearl River Delta.
There are three major new development areas in the
Pearl River Delta which will shape the future integration
of the region. The first is Nansha, an area in south east
Guangzhou with an area the size of Singapore; the
second is Qianhai a new business district in Shenzhen
which is intended to rival that of Hong Kong and which
will have special tax and other privileges; the third is the
island of Hengqin which adjoins Macau.
In the last two cases, the new developments are
intended to blur the borders between a SAR and a SEZ,
using the capitalist resources of the former to develop a
knowledge economy in the latter. For example, a piece of
land on the border between Shenzhen and Hong Kong
known as the Lok Ma Chau loop, is planned to become
a higher education campus, managed by Hong Kong
institutions but serving students from the mainland. In
the case of Hengqin, the University of Macau is being
relocated to a part of the island which will be treated as
being within Macaus jurisdiction, connected to Macau
by an undersea tunnel.
Figure 26 The new Hong

Kong legislative complex
at Tamar places the
Chief Executives building
(centre) next to the PLA
headquarters (right).
67
Part two
English in the urban
landscape
The study of language landscapes is a relatively recent

research approach, which explores how the study of language
use in public places helps us understand the role and status of
those languages in local communities.
The impact of globalisation means that few public places in the
world now remain untouched by English, and so the use of
English figures prominently in language landscapes research.
The study of language landscapes can thus help us understand
better the changing role of English in the lives of the people who
live in the delta cities.
The process of globalisation, and growing use of English, plays
out in characteristically local ways in the Pearl River Delta,
which has risen and is now declining as the worlds foremost
manufacturing hub. Language practices which were once typical
in Hong Kong and perhaps Macau (the two former European
colonies), seem to be now spreading elsewhere in the delta. But
the appearance of English in the landscape is uneven. Each city
seems to have areas in which English has visibly penetrated,
whilst other neighbourhoods seem relatively unaffected.
Figure 27 (previous
page) Guangzhou city
centre at Opera
Square.
The following chapters explore this theme, with a special focus

on Hong Kong. They sketch out ideas for further research in
the delta region, and in other parts of the world.
7
Many voices in the landscape
The built environment is filled with language: road signs,
warning notices, advertising hoardings, and informal flyposters which advertise personal services, second hand
furniture or lost animals. Business signs especially in
Hong Kong struggle to command attention by being
bigger than rivals, or are suspended more precariously
over the street, or are illuminated more brightly in neon,
or use the latest LED technology from the delta factories.
The urban spaces of Hong Kong, especially, are in this
way noisy. As you walk or drive through them, it is difficult
to avoid the sense that you are being hailed and shouted at
as you pass. The languages and mix of languages found in
the written landscape reflects the complex linguistic lives
of its inhabitants, the regulations of different authorities,
and the wide variety of social, economic and political
activities which take place in the city.
Linguists who study language landscapes sometimes
refer to them as heteroglossic: that is, the landscape
speaks with many voices. Official signs, for example,
represent a voice of authority; such notices usually
directly reflect official language policy. Advertisements
tell us through their choice of language about the
consumers they are targeting. Ephemeral materials,
created by ordinary citizens or hawkers, reflect more
directly the languages of local communities.
Language landscapes reflect the social, economic and
political activities of the diverse communities which live,
language
landscapes
Figure 28 The
landscapes in the
Pearl River Delta are
constantly changing.
Here, old factories in
Kwun Tong district of
Hong Kong have been
demolished and a new
promenade created,
facing Hong Kongs old
Kai Tak airport, now itself
being redeveloped as
a cruise liner terminal.
Such change reshapes
the flows of people and
the economic and social
activities which take place
within public spaces.
71
occupy and move through urban spaces. The authorship

of the texts which appear in these spaces is complex:
varying from informal, vernacular, ephemeral notices,
to highly stylised signage which reflects local language
policy or which carries the force of law. The language
of advertisements and business names arises from
interactions between various parties: the consumer, the
seller, and regulatory structures, for example. Although
one cannot look at a landscape and read off these in any
simple way, they create a look which is often distinctive
and which forms part of the identity of a place. It follows
that as English changes its role in a community, this will
be reflected in the landscape.
Figure 29 The language

landscapes are filled
with handwritten and
ephemeral material as
well as formal signage.
Such unauthorised
voices provide an insight
into local linguistic
communities. These
notices on a railing in
Kwun Tong, Hong Kong,
are all written in Chinese.
Figure 30 Scollon and

Wong Scollon (2003)
who studied the linguistic
landscapes of Hong Kong,
noted how signs often
accumulate, forming
semiotic aggregations.
(Central, Hong Kong)
72
A third language: icons

Public spaces across the delta are subject to many
prohibitions and warnings. These are given a distinctive
appearance across mainland China, Macau and Hong
Kong by the inclusion of icons which indicate the activity
or danger in question. In Hong Kong, this often creates
a three language formula (Chinese; English; icon). So
widespread is this convention that even informal signs
attempt to look official by reproducing it.
Icons convey meaning in complex ways: they
represent the activity in question pictorially, but they
also incorporate conventional or stylised elements which
makes them partly symbolic. Rarely, a prohibition notice
appears without any accompanying text (see Figure 31).
This probably marks it out as a community, rather than an
official, notice.
Figure 31 A notice,
presumably directed to dog
walkers, found in mid-levels,
Hong Kong Island.
Figure 32 (above)
Prohibition signs, Chater
Park, Hong Kong Central.
Figure 33 Informal
notices gain authority
through the trilingual
formula: here, Chinese,
English and icon.
(Building site, Causeway
Bay, Hong Kong)
73
Local identities: mainland China

Across the Pearl River Delta, the language of official
signs reflects the voice of national or local government:
but the official language is by no means uniform. This
is a region which exemplifies the idea of one country,
several systems, and where the differences in language
across the region give a distinct visual identity to the
different territories.
For example, in mainland China, public notices
use simplified characters, rather than the traditional
characters of Hong Kong. In Hong Kong, most official
notices and signage are bilingual. However, more public
signs in mainland cities are now becoming bilingual,
either through official policy (perhaps to make cities look
international) or because the increasing flow of foreign
visitors makes English a pragmatic choice.
In Guangzhou, in May 2012, a new regulation
governing road signage came into force, requiring
signs to be bilingual [1064]. But a question arose, as in
other Chinese cities. Should a road sign in Guangzhou
say Linhexi Rd, as overhead signs appear, or Linhexi
Lu, as the roadside signs currently indicate? The latter
sign is in pinyin (the standard mainland romanisation
of Chinese), and is provided by the citys committee
for geographical names, whilst the overhead signs are
installed by the traffic police, a different department with
different language policy. This shows one way in which
signage can reflect internal administrative processes in
local government.
This also reflects an ongoing debate in mainland
China as to whether signs should carry pinyin or have the
Chinese words translated into English. In Hong Kong,
the romanisation found on many signs is not pinyin, but
a variety of older forms of romanisation.
Shenzhen has suffered from a related problem which
is also felt in other parts of this fast-developing urban
landscape. In 2006 a spokesman for the traffic police
complained that new roads were built so quickly that it
was impossible to keep signs accurate: New roads and
streets have emerged so rapidly that old signs appear
unsuitable a few years after being erected [2965].
74
Figure 34 Commercial
City shopping mall in
Shenzhen shows the
intrusion of English in the
urban landscape.
Figure 35 Rubbish bins in

the Guangzhou metro are
labelled in both Chinese
and English.
Figure 36 English is worn

rather than spoken or
written, here in Dongmen
shopping street,
Shenzhen.
75
Local identities: Hong Kong

Hong Kong has a biliterate, trilingual policy, meaning
that official signs should be in both English and Chinese.
The written form of Chinese in Hong Kong employs
traditional characters, not the simplified characters
found in mainland China. This creates a distinctive
visual identity to all official signs in Hong Kong, whether
written on the road, bus, or street sign.
Hong Kong is also replete with signs which are not
official, such as business signs, advertisements, informal
signs by local residents and, though infrequently, graffiti.
Figure 37 In Lau Kwai

Fung bar area in Hong
Kong Central, English is
prominent on signs.
Figure 38 In the more

traditional area of Jordan,
Kowloon, there is less
English.
76
Local identities: Macau

Macau, site of Portuguese trade dating back to the 1550s,
uses the official language of Portuguese in road signs,
public notices and business names. This helps create
a distinct look for the streets and conveys a sense of
historic continuity with the old colonial town.
Although English is widespread in Macau, it has no
official status, unlike in Hong Kong.
Figure 39, 40, 41
The combination of
Portuguese and Chinese,
with English as a third
language, gives the
streets of Macau a
distinctive identity.
77
Soundscapes
The study of language landscapes can be extended to
spoken language. In lifts, trains and stations, ferries and
other public spaces, announcements are routinely made.
In Hong Kong on the MTR, for example, announcements
are trilingual, in Cantonese, Putonghua, and English.
These announcements provide a constant reminder of
place, signalled by the choice of languages, the order in
which they appear (English was moved to third place
after the handover of Hong Kong in 1997), and the accent
of the speaker (in Hong Kong the English announcements
are made with a British accent, those in neighbouring
Shenzhen with an American accent).
Some announcements travel with passengers, such
as those in lifts or on board trains. Others are fixed to
particular spaces for example, the safety announcements
on escalators reminding you how to stand safely repeat
in an endless loop as you pass through the area. Often,
announcements from adjoining spaces such as the
platform, the escalator and the train standing with open
doors can be heard at the same time.
Just as in the written domain, an area more usually
studied in language landscape research, we can find in
the soundscape a complex mix of voices, varying from
formal and official to informal and ephemeral. As you
pass by the entrance to a shop unit, you are likely to be
hailed by an assistant intent on attracting you to look
inside the shop. A foreigner is likely to be addressed in
English, a Chinese person in Hong Kong in Cantonese, or
in Shenzhen in Putonghua.
As you walk through public spaces throughout the
delta, there is typically a press of people around you, whose
voices also form part of the experience of place. Even if, as
a visitor, you cannot easily distinguish between Cantonese
and Mandarin, they sound different as a result of their
differing tones and phonology. Everywhere, people walk
alongside you or just behind, speaking on mobile phones to
unseen friends, or chatting with companions.
Speech, of course, is not the only sound in the
landscape. There are many others, such as distinctive
traffic noise, the rumbling of wheeled cases around bus
and railway stations, the sounds emitted by pedestrian
crossings, and shuttered entrances opening or closing.
All such sounds help define and characterise particular
urban spaces.
78
8
It is clear to the most casual foreign visitor that whilst
written English is ubiquitous in many parts of the
Pearl River Delta, it varies in quality and quantity. This
variation reflects the complex underlying distribution of
language users, the social and economic practices found
in different urban spaces, and government policy. For
example, when Guangzhou decided to regularise its
bilingual signage, it focused only on areas of high visitor
traffic. The China Daily commented:
>
an english
landscapes
scale
With the goal of developing Guangzhou into a modern, international

metropolis, we recognize the need to set up bilingual public signs, especially
in the public areas of hotels, scenic spots, airports, long-distance bus stations,
passenger wharves, subway stations and urban roads. [1064]
This news item gives us one insight into why we see

more English in the urban landscape in some places
rather than others: authorities expend resources only
where they think bilingual signage will serve a function.
Degrees of English
The first intrusion of English into the landscape is often in
advertising. English words appear, especially in slogans,
in a way which a native speaker may not easily be able
to make sense of. Such use tells us something about the
intended readership: people who wish to be addressed
as potential English speakers but who may not know the
language well.
Figure 42 An
advertisement in
Guangzhou shows English
words embedded in
Chinese copy. This would
be classed as Level 1 on
the scale.
79
At the other end of the scale, it is possible to find

advertisements and notices which are entirely in English
and which, if removed from their context, would show
no trace of their origins in a mainly Chinese-speaking
community.
Figure 43 Sign in Pacific

Place shopping mall,
Admiralty, Hong Kong.
A monolingual, Level 6
environment.
The scale (right) describes a continuum of English usage

in the language landscape which can be applied in
Hong Kong and the rest of the delta region. Figures 42
and 43 illustrate first, how English often first appears as
single words or phrases, and second, how in some local
environments, mainly in Hong Kong, traces of Chinese
in navigational signage can completely disappear.
Level 1 usage in official signs also occurs, where the
English is somewhat surprisingly restricted to the
title. Two examples are given, the second an unusual one
from Hong Kong.
Figure 44 (above) A
notice in a shopping
precinct in Kowloon Bay
is unusual for a semiofficial notice in Hong
Kong in not being fully
bilingual.
Figure 45 (left) A notice
in Guangzhou East
railway station. Only the
words Public Notice are
in English.
Levels 0-2 are typically found where signs are aimed at

readers whose first language is not English, but who may
have some knowledge of English (say up to A2 in CEFR).
80
An English Scale
No English is visible in any signage in an area.

Globalisation means that few large areas are likely
to fit this category. For example, shops may display
goods whose wrapping includes a list of ingredients
in English. Nevertheless, small areas perhaps parts
of a residential street may be English-free zones.
Hints of English. The local language of the area is

dominant. English perhaps single words may be
evident in business names. Advertising or ephemeral
promotional material may include slogans or strap lines in
English, while the rest of the copy is in the local language.
Limited bilingualism. Basic navigation signs such

as Exit, Toilets, Taxis, Bus Station, Metro, Parking
contain English translations alongside the local language.
Bilingual languages given equal weighting.

Navigational signs, public information, transport
timetables, prohibition notices, advertising material,
street signs, tourist information, emergency procedures:
these notices are given in local language and English.
Dominance of English. The local language is

becoming less visible, and may be set in
a smaller typeface on printed material. Most
public signage and most advertising is in English.
Some adverts may appear entirely in English.
Almost entirely English. Ordering of the public

environment is almost wholly in English and it
is the local language which occasionally intrudes.
Navigational signs, advertising, shop names, are in
English. Nuance is expressed through English in
advertisements by using loan words and expressions
from other European languages in ways which
reflect English native-speaker connotations.
Monolingual English. No use of a local language.

A full range of English registers formal,
informal, non-standard and so on may be used.
This level may be reached in small enclaves, but
is rarely found in large geographic areas.
81
Level 3 may be aimed at a dual audience: possibly people

who are monolingual in one or the other language. In
such cases, all information must be duplicated. In other
words, the sign must be fully bilingual.
Monolinugal English speakers, or at least those who
cannot read Chinese but who have high proficiency in
English, will feel comfortable from Level 3 and above.
Bilingual readers whose English is at B2C1 will be
comfortable with Levels 35, but may struggle with the
nuances often employed by Level 6.
Areas where English speakers reside might be
expected to display more English in signs and notices. The
map below shows percentages of the population in Hong
Kong who report English is their primary language, in a
2006 survey. More obvious than the hotspots of English
speakers are those districts which almost completely lack
them (shown dark green on the map).
The variation of English on signage cannot, however,
be explained entirely in terms of the ethnic mix of
residents. In a later chapter, I discuss more dynamic
explanations, such the flow of people through the urban
landscape.
82
Figure 46 Percentage
of local population in
Hong Kong who are
native English speakers,
according to a 2006
survey.
In areas where bilingual

signage is the norm, finding
a public notice only in
Chinese is the semiotic
equivalent of the dog which
did not bark in the night: the
lack of English is salient. A
Chinese-only notice suggests
that it is not addressed to, or
intended to be read by,
English speakers. On Lamma
Island, home to many
English speaking expatriates,
a fire safety notice at a grave
site is only in Chinese. It
helps define the area as local.
Figure 47 A sign in
Chinese only on Lamma
Island.
Figure 48 (left) The

name may be in English
but you would not bet
on an easy English
interaction inside.
Interpreting the language mix

For the most part, residents and visitors negotiate each
complex linguistic landscape with relative ease, despite
the fact that subtle interpretive skills are often required.
For example, the fact that a shop has a business name
in English is unlikely to mislead a local into imagining
they will meet someone inside who speaks English. But
an informal notice, which looks as if it may have been
created by the business owner, suggests both a symbolic
welcome to an English-speaking visitor and a greater
likelihood of being able to carry out and complete a
transaction in English.
Official signage not only reflects the intended audience,
Figure 49 (Above)
A more informal sign
which may encourage
an English speaker to
investigate.
83
Figure 50 Road signs

on Lamma Island, Hong
Kong.
it may also reflect internal working practices in the local

government departments responsible for the signs. Do
they employ native speakers, or have a proof-checking
stage? The signs above both display a semiotic dissonance
between the construction of the sign (which connotes the
use of costly official resources) and the form of English
used, which connotes a lack of resources.
The name of Rednaxela Terrace in Hong Kong Central
district is said to be the result of a 19th century Chinese
sign writer forgetting that English is written left to right.
(Its backwards name is Alexander Terrace). Many place
name signs reflect local linguistic history, patterns of
language contact, and tell stories of this kind.
Figure 51 Rednaxela
Terrace is said to be the
result of a 19th century
Chinese sign writer
forgetting that English is
written left to right.
84
9
During the academic years 2010-2012 I taught an
undergraduate course in World Englishes at City
University, Hong Kong. As part of the students course
work, I set a practical investigation into the local use
of English. Students first attended my lectures which
included discussions of research methodology, the idea
of language landscapes, and sociolinguistic patterns
of English use. They were encouraged to interpret the
notion of landscape broadly, and tutorials included the
design of packaging and ephemera.
student
projects
Rules of the research project

Working in groups, students negotiated their topic and
the means of carrying it out. I made only one stipulation:
students must actively collect their own data in locations
around Hong Kong.
Each group presented their research in the form of a
collaboratively written Wiki, containing reports, images,
recordings, discussions, observations, and analysis. The
Wikis were then opened for peer review by the other
student groups.
The exercise was carried out with great energy and
enthusiasm by over 200 students during three semesters,
and generated nearly 40 distinct projects.
I was impressed by the variety of approaches the
students took to creating profiles for the English used in
many diverse contexts in Hong Kong, and the perceptive
insights they provided into aspects of language in Hong
Kong many of a type that an outsider-researcher like
myself would find difficult or impossible to gain.
Here I provide just two examples of students work
referred to as Group 1 and Group 2 to indicate the
potential of this approach in understanding the varied
role of English in local communities.
85
Figure 52 Students
in Group 1
researched English
use in eleven
supermarket chains
in Hong Kong.
(Student Wiki)
Group 1: English in Hong Kong supermarkets

In this research, students examined three dimensions:
6
5
Yata
Piago
Jusco
Vanguard
Wellcome
Sogo- Freshmart
Taste
For each dimension, students constructed a multi-level

index. For example, they assessed shelf labels and price
tags according to Quantity, Quality, Manner, and Target
Audience (see box).
International
3 Did the shelf labelling for products cater for Englishspeaking customers and if so, to what level?
c!ty'super
2 Was there a difference in English proficiency

according to staff seniority? For example, between
managers, staff and cashiers?
Average score for labels
Marketplace
1 Did English proficiency change due to store location?

For example, between Hong Kong Island and the
New Territories where few foreigners go?
Figure 53 (above)
Graph showing score
for labels according
to student created
criteria.
Figure 54 (left)
Citysuper, IFC Mall,
Hong Kong Island.
One of the most
English of Hong
Kong supermarkets.
86
Student project Language use in supermarket chains
In order to investigate the reading friendliness of the English words on the

price tags in each chain of supermarket, we decided to look at 4 different
characteristics of the price tags their Quantity, Quality, Manner and Target
Audience. We also assigned a score out of 10 to each characteristics to indicate
the level of reading friendliness of the price tags.
(1) Quantity
Sufficiency of information. This field is graded by whether the price tag has
all the proper information that is needed for an English medium shopper to
determine the product, in this case, the products brand, product name and
quantity of product. For a shopper to recognize a product from the price tag,
the above information is deemed necessary.
(1 - very little information; 10 - very rich information)
(2) Quality
Accuracy and relevance of the English words. This field is graded by word
choices on the price tags which indicate whether they can give correct
and proper information of products. Products with names in abbreviated
forms are sometimes unclear and are deemed of in low quality as they
obstruct shoppers from getting the correct information from the price tag
conveniently.
(1 - not accurate and relevant at all; 10 - very accurate and relevant)
(3) Manner
Clearness. This field is graded by the organization and layout of information
on the price tags. Even with sufficient information that gives the customers
a clear and correct idea of the product, the information on price tags
should also be designed for easy access, such as the font size of the words,
the layout as in whether the text are grouped and placed in rational and
consistent formats.
(1 - very unorganized and inconsistent; 10 - very organized and consistent)
(4) Target Audience

This field is graded by whether the price tags are reading friendly
for foreign customers (especially English speaker) or not. Such as the
comprehensiveness of the English on the tags, the discrepancy between
Chinese and English on the tags and whether the English parts are in focus
or not.
(1 - very localized price tags; 10 - very internationalized price tags)
Source: Wiki for Group 1, composed June 2011
87
Figure 55 Students in
Group 2 researched
English use in four tourist
destinations, including
the bar area of Lan
Kwai Fong in Hong Kong
Central.
Group 2: English in Hong Kong tourist spots

Group 2 assessed the role of English in four major tourist
destinations in Hong Kong:
1 Lan Kwai Fong, a well-known bar and night-club area in
Central
2 Wong Tai Sin temple complex, frequented mainly by
Chinese tourists
3 Ladies Market popular street market frequented by
tourists
4 Victoria Peak, a major destination for visitors and tourists
seeking the typical panoramic view over Hong Kong.
Group 2 used various research techniques in each locality.
They made observations of the language landscape, interacted
with service providers such as shop assistants to assess
English proficiency, and interviewed foreign tourists to obtain
subjective impressions of how easily they were able to manage
encounters in English.
In the Lan Kwai Fong bars, the student researchers noted that
the English proficiency of staff bouncers, guards, bartenders
and so on was high when contrasted with street vendors
outside who can usually produce a few phrases regarding
the prices, product names and colour in attempts to do
transactions.
88
Student project Language use in tourist destinations

The researchers noted too, the high number of employees
who were not Chinese speakers. But they also identified
some bars which seemed to cater almost exclusively for local
people. In these bars, the language environment was almost
exclusively Chinese.
In the temples of Wong Tai Sin, the researchers found
a range of languages on offer in printed information and
tourist brochures. They
discovered, however, that
at face-to-face level, the
In Lan Kwai Fong, we did not have to pretend
English language ability of
to be English-speaking We needed to speak
diverse temple attendants,
in English so as to communicate well. This is
marshals,
officials
and
how Lan Kwai Fong being distinct from other
chosen locations. Most of the service providers
fortune-tellers was variable.
are foreigners, hence we, in fact, had to make
Pretending they could only
orders in English. For some of the non-local
speak English, the students
waiters and waitresses, their English level may
also recorded their fortunes
even be higher than ours.
being told to assess fortuneteller speaker proficiency.
At the Ladies Market, the
student researchers made
an interesting observation that the tourists they interviewed
seemed happy with the ease of communication, although
the vendors English proficiency seemed low. The group
suggested that tourists may have low expectations of the
English of market traders, thus Hong Kong English may be
part of the expected touristic experience.
Figure 56 A fortune teller who offers to

foresee struggles ahead using English,
Mandarin, Japanese, and Cantonese.
Figure 57 Wong Tai Sin temple complex is an

extensive area visited mainly by Chinese devotees
and tourists.
89
Figure 58 Map of
stalls in the Ladies
Market produced by
student researchers.
The researchers also found, by talking to traders in different

parts of the market, that English proficiency seemed to be
distributed unequally traders at the edges had poorer
English than traders at the centre. This could be the result
of greater conversational contact with the flow of tourists
channelling through the main
routes. It may also be an effect
of controls within the hawker
Most of the shop keepers in the Ladies
community, or a function of
Market are local Hong Kong people
rental rates (if higher rates are
who obviously have not received much
charged for central stalls, then
language education and have learnt
they will be rented by traders
their English through communicating
who feel able to to maximise
with foreign customers. Therefore,
income from tourists).
the predominant language is still their
Figure 59 Ladies Market, at the intersection of

Tung Choi Street and Nelson Street.
90
mother tongue Cantonese although

it is a famous tourist spot. As the Ladies
Market is a local street market, it does
not need to be highly-internationalized
in order to give an exclusive image.
Perhaps this is the reason why the foreign
visitors interviewed are satisfied with the
English usage there they did not expect
people in a local street market to speak
perfect English. And we do think that the
un-unified language use and the varied
English standards are the local features
that some tourists are looking for.
10
Within communities, across community boundaries,
people flow and circulate. Such flows are rarely random.
Some are highly predictable, bringing distinctive
patterns of communication and language competencies
into or out of particular parts of the city at regular times
each day, each week, or at certain times of the year. This
chapter builds on the previous discussion of how English
is distributed unequally across the urban landscape,
introducing a dynamic approach which takes account of
such flows and their rhythms.
corridors
and flows
Language flows
One of the more obvious flows in Hong Kong is formed
by the commuters who bring a tidal wave of English into
the business districts, twice a day, five days a week. For
example, in Central and Admiralty districts on Hong
Kong Island, an English-rich stream of people flows
inwards during a two-hour period from 7am, then ebbs
outward again around 6pm. The people who make up
this crowd are mainly the professional white-collar office
workers in the tower office blocks, including many of
the expats who do not speak Chinese (but who may be
bilingual in a variety of other languages in addition to
English). These people flow from other residential areas
in the city, such as Discovery Bay on Lantau, Yung Shue
Wan on Lamma Island, as well as the areas marked as
high English on the map in Chapter 8, such Mid-levels.
This flow contains many people who speak English as
either their first language, or as a second language. They
are employed in the kind of managerial and professional
jobs for which the workplace English project described in
Chapter 5 considered a minimum of a C1 level of English
was required.
Slightly later (the shopping malls in Hong Kong tend
not to open before 1011am), come the people who serve
the English speakers in shops and cafes in the business
districts. This stream will contain many speakers of
lower English proficiency, perhaps A2B1 level, arriving
from all over Hong Kong. The two groups together help
91
Figure 60 In buildings
like ifc 2 in Hong
Kong Central, large
communities of highproficiency English
speakers assemble each
working day.
create a concentration of English usage in the central

areas during the working day. In office towers, such
as ifc 2 (International Finance Centre), a community of
thousands of workers, virtually all with high levels of
English, assemble anew each day.
And later again in the day, perhaps not until the
afternoon, the staff who work in the bars and bistros
in areas like Lai Kwai Fung will arrive. These workers
share something in common (in the their mix of language
proficiencies) to the early stream of office workers as
we saw in the student project in Chapter 9, the bar and
bistros provide employment for foreigners who do not
speak Chinese.
Newspaper hawkers already respond to these flows:
free English language copies of The Hong Kong Standard
or the Hong Kong edition of China Daily are given out
early in the morning at points of maximum flow, such as
the top of escalators and walkway entrances.
92
number of people
Peak flows of high-proficiency English speakers (C1+)

into Hong Kong Central may be earlier in the morning
than the peak for lower proficiency English speakers
(A1/A2).
C1+
7am
8am
A1/A2
9am
10am
11am
12am
Figure 61 The crowds

moving through the
streets of Hong Kong
Central may have
different profiles of
English proficiency
according to the time
of day.
This notion of time-related flows of people with different language repertoires and English proficiencies is
explored in the following pages.
1: The annual migrant exodus
>
In Zhaoqing, a city in the west Pearl River Delta, local authorities said more
than 100,000 motorcyclists left the city Jan. 20. The highways leading out
of the city were so crowded that helicopters had to be summoned to help
control traffic. [502]
Perhaps the most remarkable of episodic flows in the

region is the annual exodus of migrant workers at Chinese
New Year (Spring Festival), who return home to see
families. Across China, over 100 million people disperse
from the cities to provincial towns in an annual migration
which strains transport systems. The numbers published
for journeys undertaken seem to defy the imagination:
during the 2012 Spring Festival, it is reported that the
national railway booking site received over an astonishing
billion visits per day.
The Spring Festival marks moments of significant life
change for migrant workers: marriages may be agreed,
divorces carried out and, increasingly, the factoryowners of the delta wait anxiously to see how many of
their workers will return.
This annual migration temporarily changes the
language profiles of the factory cities in the Pearl River
Delta. As large numbers of , as local, Cantonese-speaking
people once again predominate.
93
2: The Canton fair

Twice a year, since 1957, the Canton Fair in Guangzhou
(or, to give its full name, the China Import and Export
Fair) has attracted a huge number of overseas buyers to
China, seeking new sources for goods and components
of every imaginable kind.
The spring fair in 2012 is reported to have attracted
210,000 visitors, to 59,000 sales booths. The huge twiceyearly inflow of foreign visitors has required local hotels
and restaurants to improve facilities for English users.
Outside Hong Kong, this may be the largest use of
English as a lingua franca in the delta.
Other major trade fairs in the delta region include the

China Hi-Tech Fair held annually in Shenzhen, which
claims to have attracted over 500,000 visitors since 2004,
and the biennial international Air Show, held in Zhuhai.
3: Graduate flows
The Hong Kong economy depends crucially on graduates
with high proficiency in English; these people sustain
the operations of banks, finance houses and other highend tertiary sector employers who now characterise
the economy. Yet a surprisingly low proportion of such
employees graduate from local universities. Each year, it
seems, there is significant churn; many graduates leave
Hong Kong, and new ones arrive. Many new arrivals are
returnees Chinese from Hong Kong or elsewhere who
have studied or worked abroad.
94
Figure 62 One of
several exhibition
halls in the vast new
Canton Fair complex,
Guangzhou. Fairs here
attract hundreds of
thousands of visitors
every year.
An example of such churn is documented by Hart

and Tian (2010), who show that 48,000 graduates flowed
into, or were locally produced in, Hong Kong during 2006.
Virtually all English speakers in Hong Kong with C1+ level
English (see the discussion of the CEFR) will be in this
graduate flow, yet only just over half 26,000 actually
joined the workforce, while 12,000 left Hong Kong.
10,000
remain in HK but
not in workforce
20,000
local graduates
16,500
GEP
5,000
ASMTP
6,500
Returnees
48,000
total inflow
Figure 63 Estimated
flows of graduates in
Hong Kong 2006. (Hart
& Tian, 2010:76)
26,000
join workforce
12,000
leave Hong Kong
The idea that a large number of C1+ English speakers

might exit Hong Kong was supported by a study in
2010 by the think tank Civic Exchange. They found
that 32% of all graduates and 52% of postgraduates had
considered leaving Hong Kong because of air pollution.
Another barrier for expat English-speakers coming to
Hong Kong is an acute shortage of places in Englishmedium international schools: many places have been
taken up by local Chinese families.
This churn leads to problems in recruitment and
retention of English-speaking graduates; it suggests how
quickly Hong Kongs C1+ workforce might disappear if
conditions became more attractive elsewhere. Graduates
with high proficiency in English and with work experience
in Hong Kong are very mobile in a globalised world.
Historically, the expat workers in Hong Kongs
financial services have been native-English speakers
from Britain or the USA. I have the impression that the
proportion of workers from Latin America and Europe is
increasing. This may reflect a declining attractiveness of
Hong Kong for native-English speakers, it may reflect the
increasing number of professionals who speak English as
a second language at a high level of proficiency, or it may
reflect the growing globalisation of Hong Kong business.
95
4: Lamma Island
Lamma Island is home to a community of around 6000
people, of whom about one third are non-Chinese. The
only connection to the rest of Hong Kong is by ferry, a
journey of about 25 minutes. Hence a commuter corridor
exists, stretching from Central piers on Hong Kong Island
to the pier at Yung Shue Wan the main habitation on
the island continuing down the narrow single street of
the village, onwards to Hung Shing Ye beach, a popular
destination for day visitors to the island.
When a ferry docks at Yung Shue Wan, a pulse of
people is sent down the single shopping street. At regular
intervals, this street fills with shoppers and people
chatting, then all but empties until the next pulse.
The linguistic make-up of these groups squeezing
through the village, past the shops varies by time of day.
For example, in the early morning, an incoming stream of
mainly middle-aged, Cantonese-speaking men file down
the village street from the ferry pier to their workplace at
the Hongkong Electric power station. At the same time,
in the reverse direction, a flow of children attending
English-medium schools on Hong Kong Island and an
outgoing stream of both male and female office-workers
head towards the ferry.
In the afternoon and evening these flows reverse. Day
workers on Lamma leave the island; from 3pm, children
return from their English-medium schools speaking
English to each other; the early evening brings back office
workers and teachers, many of whom make up most of
the islands expatriate population of English speakers.
On Sundays and holidays come tourists, and a
different ferry schedule with higher fares. Many of
these day tourists come from mainland China, speaking
Putonghua, rather than Cantonese.
Lamma Island is thus home to speakers of many
languages, and it attracts visitors from many places.
However, the linguistic constitution of the flows through
its main street varies during the day, affecting both the
language of conversations within groups of visitors and
the language of interactions with local shopkeepers and
other residents.
Despite its complexity, the rhythm of this
multilingualism in the public spaces of Lamma Island is
a normal part of daily life, regarded as unremarkable by
both shopkeepers and other residents.
96
Figure 64 Lamma Island

is a small community
accessible only by sea, yet
the linguistic rhythms of
the day are surprisingly
varied.
Figure 65 The arrival of

the ferry sends a pulse of
hundreds of people down
the single street of Yung
Shue Wan the main
habitation on Lamma
Island, Hong Kong.
To Hung
Shing Yeh
Beach
and Power
Station
Figure 66 On weekday mornings on Lamma

Island the incoming pedestrian streams
(facing camera) are demographically and
linguistically different from the outgoing
streams. This photograph is taken after the
main commuter rush (which at this location
peaks soon after 8am), when it is easier to
see the composition of the stream.
97
5: The maids on Sunday

The business districts of Hong Kong Island acquire a new
linguistic identity each Sunday, and other public holidays,
when Filipina maids fill the walkways and parks. These
urban spaces then become dominated by the languages
of the Philippines, such as Tagalog, Cebuano and Ilocano.
A wide variety of social and business activity takes place
religious worship, health services, employment advice,
legal support, financial and travel services.
The Worldwide Plaza shopping mall in Central
reflects this flow; it provides money changers and
remittance companies; shops selling snacks, phones and
clothing; clothing suitable for maids. Notices and adverts
here are in Filipino and English, but not often in Chinese.
Not far away, in Causeway Bay, Malay-speaking
Indonesian maids gather in Victoria Park. Here notices can
be found in Malay and the Sunday streets are lined with
people holding placards in Malay. This partly reflects
a historic settlement: Causeway Bays connections to
Indonesia go back much further than todays weekend
crowds of (mostly Javanese) migrant workers in Victoria
Park might suggest. Indonesian Chinese have had a
significant impact on this district since the late 1940s. [3127]
One reason for this unusual congregation of domestic
helpers is the visa restriction which requires all Hong
Kong maids to live with the family who sponsors them.
This means that maids are unable to meet each other in
their own homes. Furthermore, many families prefer their
domestic helper to stay out of the house during their day
off. The visa restrictions also prevent domestic helpers
from obtaining permanent resident status (available
to other expat workers) after seven years working in
Hong Kong. These factors have prevented a Filipina or
Indonesian residential district from developing in the
same way as has happened for South Asians.
Following restrictions announced by both the
Philippines and Indonesian governments on the
future availability of domestic helpers, the Hong Kong
government is now looking to Bangladesh for a new
supply of maids. [5607] New training centres have
been established in Dhaka, where around 200 maids
each month will be trained in Cantonese, English and
cooking and sent to Hong Kong from summer 2013. It
will be interesting to see what impact this has on the local
language landscapes.
98
Filipinas in Hong Kong

Each Sunday in Hong
Kong, thousands
of speakers from
the Philippines,
predominantly female,
aged between 20
and 50, congregate in
urban spaces. These
spaces such as here
at the HSBC bank
headquarters are
temporarily transformed
from Chinese-English to
Filipino-English.
Economic processes
play a part in creating
this language flow: the
Worldwide Plaza
offering Filipino-English
snack bars, advice
centres and clothing
shops draws maids into
the area. But economic
processes are also
created by the flow of
maids: they generate
demand for travel
agents, remittance
companies, and
employment bureaux.
Many Filipinas have a
Christian background,
and often join gospel
groups in nearby parks
on Sunday. A notice at
St Johns Cathedral Hong
Kong, near the area
where the maids meet
on Sunday, acknowledges
this by addressing them in Filipino.
99
Flows, corridors, streams and timetables

This chapter has introduced a number of concepts which
might be usefully further explored in further empirical
work. First is the idea that people with different language
repertoires flow across the urban landscape along certain,
often well-defined routes, which I have called corridors.
The route from the airport into Kowloon and Hong Kong
Island forms one such corridor; another is the route from
Hong Kong Island to Lamma Island. Such flows can be
recognised in the landscape by patterns of language use
on signs and in advertisements, or the use of particular
languages in service encounters such as in shops.
However, the notion of corridor is not sufficient in
itself to capture the underlying and complex patterns of
language flow. A concept of stream may help further.
Within a particular corridor, which can be defined in
geographical terms, we may find multiple streams of
people, each possessing a particular language repertoire,
temporarily sharing space with other travellers, as they
move from different origins to different destinations.
Within a corridor these streams may intertwine, separate,
rejoin and so on. For example, in Hong Kong, the Airport
Express carries an English-rich stream, but in the same
geographical corridor (indeed, on an adjacent railway
track) the ordinary MTR carries a stream which is much
richer in Cantonese speakers. The differences between
streams reflects different origins (the Airport Express
terminates at the airport, the commuter line at the nearby
residential town of Tung Chung), but also the number
of stops and a difference in price (the Airport Express is
about ten times the cost of the commuter line).
Similarly, across Hong Kong, bus, tram, taxi, and
MTR traffic between the same two points may each carry
demographically different streams of people.
Furthermore, the constitution of these streams may
vary according to the time of day, day of the week, or
time of year.
Once we conceptualise language landscapes as
involving streams of people, flowing along corridors
according to timetables, it becomes possible to
understand a little better the complexity and dynamic
nature of language landscapes in the city and opens up a
whole new and exciting territory for research.
100
Figure 67 (previous
page) Filipina maids
meet under the Hong
Kong and Shanghai Bank
headquarters.
Figure 68 Worldwide
Plaza shopping mall is
filled with small shops
and money transfer
services catering for
Filipina maids.
Figure 69 A notice
outside St Johns
Cathedral in Hong Kong
Central includes Filipino
for the benefit of the
thousands of Filipina
maids, mostly Christian,
who gather in the area
on Sundays.
11
Postscript
After the main research for this book was carried out,
it became apparent that, at least in Hong Kong, the
language landscape has already been changing and in
ways which provide insights into local social, economic
and political developments.
Take, for example, a typical street scene, such as that
in Mong Kok in Hong Kong. This street, like many others,
appears to maintain its look over a period of years. But a
closer examination shows that there is constant change.
Signs that are frequently replaced such as advertising
hoardings and ephemeral handwritten signs are most
likely to reflect changes in the community, whilst other
more permanent signs retain a memory in the landscape of
earlier times.
postscript
and
conclusions
Figure 70 A street scene

in Mong Kok: the overall
appearance may endure,
but some individual signs
change surprisingly often.
Figure 71 A detail from

the above picture (from
the bottom right of the
above photograph), shows
handwritten signs of a
kind which change most
frequently.
101
One development worth monitoring is the increased

use of simplified Chinese characters in signage and
advertisements in Hong Kong. This is a sensitive issue in
Hong Kong and often provokes negative public reaction
underlining the identity issues involved. My sense is
that such signs are increasing in frequency but usually
they appear for only a short time. Whenever I have been
told about such signs by colleagues, by the time I arrive
with a camera they have disappeared. Nevertheless, this
flickering of simplified characters in the Hong Kong
landscape often on large, bold hoardings, or shop
windows provides a constant reminder to the local
population, already nervous of the challenge to their
identity as Hong Kongers, of the growing economic and
cultural power of the mainland people on their border.
This continuing political undercurrent perhaps
also explains the recent appearance of signs written in
Cantonese. Usually, writing in Hong Kong is in Standard
Chinese though using traditional characters. A recent
notice on MTR trains, however, addresses travellers in a
form of writing that incorporates Cantonese vocabulary,
characters and grammar written Cantonese. Unlike
almost all other official notices on MTR trains, this notice
is not bilingual.
Figure 72 Some recent
signs on Hong Kong
MTR trains use written
Cantonese, without
English.
Some conclusions
In this book, I have explored the changing status of
English in a part of China which is undergoing rapid
economic, social and political transformation. I have
demonstrated how a study of public discourse as
visible in newspapers and blogs, and on signs and
advertisements in the urban landscape can be used
to monitor the complex changing role that English now
plays in education, employment and evolving social
identities in the Pearl River Delta.
102
In the first part of the book I focused on the use of

news (largely internet) sources, showing how they
provide a rich, though partial, source of information
about the macro trends we are interested in economic,
demographic, social, educational. Such sources also
provide invaluable insights into public attitudes towards
English.
This provided a wider context for the study,
identifying some of the main issues affecting the learning
and use of English in the region.
In the second part of the book, I presented a view of
the urban language landscape as dynamic, multilayered,
and ever-changing, and so capable of making visible
social, political and economic change. This dynamism
derives in part from the co-existence of many voices.
We can understand much from monitoring whose
voices these are, how prominent they are, where in the
landscape they appear, the language and accent in which
they speak, and how they contrast with, or complement,
other languages and semiotic codes.
Hong Kong, it must be admitted, is a particularly rich
research site in this respect. In mainland China, some
cities seem in comparison semiotically quieter. Data
here may be a little sparser, and more subtle, but it is
nonetheless present.
Some trends to watch

We can expect to see changes affecting the status of
English in the following areas:
i) the continuing integration of Hong Kong and
Macau into the economic and social life of the
delta;
ii) the changing economic structure of the region,
as it becomes less dependent on exports, and the
manufacture of low-margin goods;
iii) the continuing rise of a middle class with greater
disposable income;
iv) the internationalisation of education in mainland
China;
v) education reform, including reform of high-stakes
exams;
vi) the rising alarm in Hong Kong over the perceived
threat to their separate identity.
103
Interestingly, some trends associated with English may,

in fact, be heading in opposite directions in Hong Kong
and in mainland China. In Hong Kong, for example,
I sense that the role of English in public discourse is
actually decreasing, whilst on the mainland it seems to
be increasing (albeit from a much lower base).
Meanwhile, in the mainland, it seems greater
importance is now being attached to a functional
proficiency in English, in contrast to the past almost
exclusive focus on the needs of the education system.
Perhaps the growing importance of functional proficiency
in English reflects a growth of interest in overseas study,
but also the increased availability of employment in new
high value enterprises across the delta.
Taking the approach further

This book has been exploratory. It raises questions and
possibilities rather than providing answers. It suggests
new methods for collecting information, and it offers
new ideas about where we can look for data.
At the same time, it offers scope for development
of both the methodology and its theoretical basis. For
example, the analysis would clearly benefit from the
inclusion of Chinese-language sources, such as Chinese
newspapers and discussions on weibo and other popular
social networking and microblogging sites.
The approaches used in this book are not intended
to replace other, more established methods, such as
survey and ethnographic research. However, they can
complement more traditional methods in several ways:
i) the methods are particularly helpful in monitoring
change in communities as it takes place;
ii) they can incorporate a sensitivity to different
levels of English proficiency and to different
language profiles;
iii) they provide excellent potential for future
collaborative research with local partners such
as university departments, private educational
providers, and examination authorities.
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research database compiled during the project)
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108
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[5852] Can China become a hi-tech economy? (2013-05-22).
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[2965] Shenzhen to correct embarrassing English road signs
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[1064] Guangzhou gets strict on bilingual street signs (2012-0420). China Daily. Available at: http://www.chinadaily.com.
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http://archive.scmp.com/showarticles.php Accessed:
August 23, 2012
[5607] Bangladeshi maids may work in Hong Kong from June
(2013-03-16). SCMP. Available at: http://www.scmp.com/
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109
The following abbreviations appear in this book

ABC
American Born Chinese
AEC
ASEAN Economic Community
abbreviations
ASEAN Association of Southeast Asian Nations

BBC
British Born Chinese
BGI
Beijing Genomics Institute

(Company in Shenzhen)
CEFR
Common European Framework of Reference
CELTA
(Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of

Other Languages)
CEPAS
Common English Proficiency Assessment

Scheme
CET
College English Test
CNY
ISO code for Chinese currency (also known as

Yuan, or Reminbi)
ECR
Education Commission Report (Hong Kong)
EDB
Education Bureau (Hong Kong Government)
ESP
English for Special Purposes
HKDSE Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education

HKU
Hong Kong University
IELTS
International English Language Testing

System (An English test co-owned by the
British Council, Cambridge English Language
Assessment, and IDP, Australia.)
ISO
International Organisation for Standardisation

(ISO is not strictly an abbreviation in any
language)
KG
Kindergarten
LED
Light Emitting Diode (electronic lighting

component)
MA
Master of Arts (12 year full-time equivalent

postgraduate degree)
MBA
Master of Business Administration (Business

studies equivalent of MA)
MTR
Mass Transit Railway (Hong Kong)
110
P3
Primary 3 (school class of children usually aged 9)
PG
Postgraduate
PLA
Peoples Liberation Army
PRD
Pearl River Delta
S1
Secondary 1 (first year secondary school,

children usually aged 11)
SAR
Special Administrative Region (of China)
SAT
Scholastic Assessment Test (US college

admission test)
SEZ
Special Economic Zone
TEM
Test for English Majors
TIRF
The International Research Foundation for

English Language Education
111
I would like to acknowledge my thanks to the very many

people who helped me during the course of my research for
this book. I wish to make especial mention of the following:
acknowledgements

Dr Nick Saville;
Stephen McKenna;
Dr Mike Milanovic;
Dr Xiangdong Gu;
Dr Roger Hawkey;
Rebecca Peckham;
John Savage;
Nathalie Fitch;
Clare Bramman.
Mainland China
Dai Fan (Head of English, Sun Yat-sen University,
Guangzhou);
Chang Chenguang (Dean, Professor, School of Foreign
Languages, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou);
Frank Miao (President, Franklin English Language
College);
Lily Liao Ke (Student);
Ekaterina Isaeva (English teacher, Guangzhou);
Undergraduate and postgraduate students in the
Department of English, Sun Yat-sen University,
Guangzhou.
Hong Kong
Dr Kingsley Bolton (Head, Language and Communication
Centre, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore);
Dr Rodney Jones (Acting head, Department of English, City
University);
Dr Jackie Jia Lou (Assistant Professor, Department of
English, City University);
Dr Anna Danielewicz-Betz (Associate Professor, Centre for
Language Research, The University of Aizu, Japan);
Colleagues and students in the Department of English, City
University.
112

David Graddol
In Profiling English in China: The Pearl River Delta, David Graddol explores the
changing status of the English language in a part of China undergoing rapid
economic, social and political transformation.
Breaking new methodological ground, David Graddol demonstrates how a study
of public discourse in newspapers, blogs, signs and advertisements in the urban
landscape can be used to monitor the complex changing role that English is
now playing in education, employment and evolving social identities.
He argues that researchers need to distinguish between different levels of
English proficiency more sensitively and illustrates how the Common European
Framework of Reference (CEFR) can be used as a research tool by sociolinguists.
Profiling English in China: The Pearl River Delta is intended as the first of a series of
books exploring the changing social, economic and educational contexts in which
English is learned and used. David Graddol presents methods of inquiry which
will be useful for researchers working in other parts of the world. The book
will be essential reading for anyone seeking a wider understanding of the role of
English in globalisation and economic development.
David Graddol is Director of the English Company (UK) Ltd.

He was employed for many years in the Faculty of Education
and Language Studies at the UK Open University. During
much of the period of research for this book he was Visiting
Associate Professor at City University, Hong Kong. He
has worked as a consultant on many ELT projects in South
America, South Asia and China.
www.graddol.com
ISBN 978-1-908791-07-8
781908 791078

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David Graddol

Profiling English in China

Profiling English in China

Profiling English in China

Cambridge English Language Assessment

Cambridge English Language Assessment

First published 2013

Profiling English in China is the first volume in what is intended

Resulting from a collaboration between David Graddol and

From a study of such on-the-ground contextual features

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

His research, conducted while living in Hong Kong in 2011/12,

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

will bring about high levels of success for the majority of

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Languages and communities of the

English, jobs and the economy

The great economic and social transition

PART TWO English in the urban landscape

An English landscapes scale

Corridors and flows

Postscript and conclusions

Note: Extracts and quotations used in this book are

A zone of political and economic experimentation

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

range of proficiency in English in the community, from the

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Figure 2 The Pearl River Delta is an area of Guangdong province which

Figure 1 (previous pages)

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

The language profile of each city is distinct

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

The status of Cantonese in Guangzhou, the original

Chinese authorities have been anxious to suppress the growing pro-Cantonese

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Hong Kong as a focal centre of Cantonese

Figure 5 Usual language

Endangered languages of the delta

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Western names in the Pearl River Delta

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

The written languages of the delta

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

English in the Pearl River Delta

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Knowledge of English in Hong Kong has been rising ever

Varieties of English in the delta

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Work units and the hukou system

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Who is a typical migrant worker?

One of the biggest stories in the Pearl River Delta today

Figure 7 Migrants in four

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

Foreign migrant workers

The role of ethnic minorities

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

different groups in the Indian community in Hong

Language worlds and language biographies

profiling english in china: the pearl river delta

The importance of English in public exams

English testing in Chinese education

secondary school a child attends) and then the gaokao